Circle that Binds
by Six-string Samurai
Summary: The untimely arrival of their father's friend changes things irrevocably for the Tendou sisters. Rumors of an arranged marriage a possible case of multiple personality disorder and a dog collar, are what's in store for the girls.
1. Part 1

Ranma and Co. is Copyright Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan, Inc. 1993 Ranma ½ is a trademark of Viz Communications, Inc.  
A Ranma ½ Fan Fiction/Danny the Dog by S³

Circle that Binds - part 1

For the first time in many years, Soun Tendou was a truly happy man. This was the day that he'd been waiting for ever since his oldest and best friend had left, what seemed like ages ago. Wiping away a tear that threatened to overwhelm him, he reread the postcard that he'd found in the mail buried beneath a pile of bills and solicitations.

Tendou,  
Bringing the boy. Be there soon.  
- Saotome

"Short and to the point as always eh, Saotome," the Tendou patriarch laid the missive on the tabletop and shook his head. He was so happy!

"Girls, come down, I have something important to tell you," he called up the stairs. His daughters had walked in from school not too long ago, and they were probably working on homework or something like that. Such studious children he had. 

"Ah, Kimiko, I've done my best with them. Hopefully, with the return of our friend Saotome and his boy, they can move on with their lives," Soun glanced over at the kamidana in the alcove where his dear departed wife's picture rested alongside another, newer frame.

Ten minutes later, he'd just finished explaining the arrangement to his daughters, when the doorbell rang. "Could that be them? They're even faster than I imagined." Mr. Tendou rose to see who was at the door, flanked by his eldest daughter, Kasumi, who was interested to catch a first look at her possible betrothed.

"Who is it, father," Kasumi asked from just behind her father's shoulder as he opened the front door.

Soun's reply was cut short as a set of burly arms wrapped around him in a crushing embrace.

"Tendou my old buddy! It's good to see you after so long," a rotund man, about the same age as Soun shouted as he nearly hugged the life out of his friend.

Kasumi was taken aback at such a forward greeting, but put it aside when she recalled just how long her father had mentioned it'd been since his friend last visited. Nearly ten years. Such a long time to her; almost half her lifetime. She politely coughed to let the man know that her father was having trouble breathing, and he promptly released him.

With a hearty pat on the back, Genma Saotome restored the air to his hosts lungs. He hadn't traveled so far to kill his one true friend.  
"Come now, Tendou. Has life been so unkind to you this past decade? Why, I remember back when we struggled daily for life and limb. Fending off wild animals just for the next meal," Genma continued his reminiscing as he led the recovering Soun into the house. Trailing a few feet behind, a somber boy in his late teens followed the two men.

As they passed her by on the way to the living room, Kasumi got her first good look at the Saotome boy. He was dressed in worn jeans and a plain blue short sleeved shirt. Not very stylish, but probably the best he had. They were just in from a long trip after all. So she let that slide.

What did catch her eye though, was the way he carried himself. The boy walked with his shoulders hung forward and his gaze was almost on the floor. The eldest Tendou couldn't be quite sure of where he was really looking, since his hair was long, and he'd grown his bangs down where they almost covered his eyes. Since he was downcast, the hair ended up hanging like a curtain across his forehead.

Ever the courteous hostess, Kasumi offered a greeting. "Hello, My name's Kasumi. I heard you just came back from China."

Her gesture garnered no response. Though she could've sworn his head canted slightly to the side. As if he were listening intently to something far away. Maybe the boy was just shy, she thought. After he remained silent, she walked back over to sit with her sister. The boy started walking again, and eventually came to a halt next to his father.

The two men talked about old times for a few minutes, catching up on recent events and which baseball team was heading to Koshien this year. The whole time, the Saotome boy sat quietly, not looking at anything in particular, nor acknowledging either of the two girls. 

This put Akane, the younger of the two girls, at odds. She'd been angry with her father ever since he broke the news that she might have to marry a boy she'd never even met once. Now, to add fuel to the fire, the boy shows up and doesn't say a damn word. No, "Hi, nice ta meetcha." Nothing. He never even gave his name. Elbowing her sister, Akane whispered,"Who does this guy think he is? Is he some kind of slacker? I mean, look at his hair. I don't even think he uses shampoo."

Again, Kasumi couldn't fathom anything about the boy. She wanted to agree with her sister, but would withhold any further judgement until they' been properly introduced. "Shh, Akane. I think he's just a little shy. Don't forget they were on the road a long time. Maybe we can offer to let him use the bath."

"Yeah, sure Kas. Give him a haircut too while your at it," Akane retorted, but already the heat had started to leave her voice. She'd had a bad day at school again, and was still indignant about being held after class by her math teacher. Besides, Kasumi was right, but the boy's attitude wasn't helping his case any.

The girls sat there, whispering back and forth for a little while longer. The Saotome boy still hadn't moved so much as a muscle since he'd taken a seat beside his father. For their part, the two men conversed about trivial things, with a loud guffaw or teary chuckle interspersed. Kasumi watched the byplay with mounting anticipation, surely they would get to the heart of the matter anytime soon.

They didn't have to hold their breath, as something the Saotome man said drew a stern face from their father. Almost instantly the pleasant laid-back atmosphere in the room changed. An air of solemnity surrounded the little wooden dining table as a Saotome's tone took on a subtle strength.

"Soun, as much as I relish catching up on things with you, I believe we do have other matters to discuss," the hint of iron grew that much more firmly as Genma redirected the conversation.

Soun Tendou recognized the words of his friend not by what lay beneath, but instead by the mention of his given name. The two men, and former comrades-in-arms, had long ago placed much emphasis on first names. If Genma pulled that card, then the joining of schools was a hazy prospect indeed. It had been a serious matter to the both of them, yes. But, also something decided before any of the children had come into this world. Thus, an assumption that it simply would be so.

From what he'd seen of the boy, the lad was quiet, well-mannered and disciplined. A little rough in apperance, but Soun knew what life on the road was like. Sweaty, unshaven, and worn tattered-clothing; all were part and parcel of the life of a wandering martial artist, as the boy undoubtedly was.

"Indeed, Genma. That is why you've come, is it not?"

"Of course, of course. The boy and I, we managed to make it back to Japan nearly ten years to the day, if memory serves," Genma took this time to acknowledge his son. In fact, this was probably the first moment that any of the Tendou's had seen the man even look his offspring's direction. Genma made a point to ruffle the boy's hair. "Ranma here, is one of the best of his generation. I'll even admit that he could give some of the older ones a run for their money."

"That's good news, old friend. The school's will be even more prosperous than we could have hoped!"

Akane was tired of waiting around, trying to keep her opinions and thoughts on the whole matter bottled up. "So, he's a martial artist too? Is that what you mean?" She eyed him openly now, since everyone else's attention seemed to be riveted upon the boy. "I'm not in the mood to deal with some old-fashioned arranged marriage right now. We're all still in school," she exclaimed, pointing out Ranma's state of dress. "Do you even go to school? Traveling all over for ten years, did you even have the time?"

"Akane, don't point at other people, it's not polite," Kasumi chided her sibling in a whisper only audible to Akane.

"Now, Akane, you've only just met Ranma. No one's saying any of you have to get married right away," her father attempted to placate the simmering girl. "Genma, what does your boy make of all this. Surely, he would like to put in a word or two?"

It appeared to everyone that Genma was a bit hesitant in replying. "The boy? He knows what's best for family honor, as I'm sure your daughters can understand as well. Old-fashioned or not, this is about maintaining family honor. Simple as that." The portly Saotome folded his arms as if that were the end of the argument.

"You see Akane, this is about what's best for the schools," Soun added as a final say. This meant that Akane was going to have to find another way around this mess. If she could talk to this Ranma, and make him see her point of view, then maybe that would be enough to convince the fathers. Her's was usually a pushover in most situations. She loved the man dearly, but he was who he was. And that meant honor was to be held up above all else. Not that she didn't share that particular conviction, but this situation was just too much, and too strange for her to wrap her mind around in one afternoon.

"Fine, whatever. I'm going out to the dojo. If anyone needs me, don't bother. I need to think about this whole...thing," Akane stood up abruptly, not about to let her father, and some stranger she'd never met, try and dictate her future.

Kasumi watched her sister leave, words waiting on her lips. She thought better of saying anything in front of their guests though. That wasn't the kind of support Akane needed. Not that the strong willed girl ever really expressed a need for Kasumi's help. She was too proud for that. An independent girl;  
not yet a woman, but trying so hard to become one.

"Father, shall I make some tea for our guests?"

The sound of his eldest daughter's voice jarred Soun's attention back to the events at the table. He was a little worried about Akane's outburst, but he supposed girls will be girls, and left it at that. Besides, it wasn't as if she dismissed the whole thing outright. She did say she was going to think it over. He was sure, that with a little time, she would warm up the idea of an arranged marriage. Once she got to know the boy, it would all work out, he was sure of it. And then there was dear Kasumi.

"That would be excellent Kasumi. Would you like Ranma to accompany you," Soun offered as a way to get at least one of his daughters to know the lad.

"It won't take long, but he's welcome to join me if he wants."

The whole time Genma was beginning to look slightly nervous, but he hid it behind a stern mask. Something even Soun would have trouble seeing past, especially since his fire-cracker of a daughter had tried to undermine the whole deal. He would need to keep an eye on her. She was undoubtedly the Tendou heir to the school, as he'd noticed the way she carried herself. She was a little stiff in the shoulders, but that was likely due to having concentrated her efforts on strength training. The Tendou girl filled her clothes out well in all the areas save for the bust line, the mark of a dedicated athlete if nothing else.

While Genma was busy contemplating new plans of action, Soun was talking about getting drinks or whatnot. That caught the large man's attention. "Yes, that sounds fine," he added just before he caught the rest of the conversation about Ranma going with the girl. "Ah, Soun, there's a little more that I need to tell you about the boy before...," but he trailed off mid-sentence as Ranma stood up and wandered after the older teen of his own accord. "...ah, that's strange."

"Hmm, what did you say Saotome," Soun turned back to his friend as Kasumi and the boy dissapeared through the curtain that separated the kitchen from the rest of the house.

"Ha, hah, nothing old friend. Say, do you still have the old shogi board?"

With that, their minds moved far away from current events as they went on a hunt for the board, which Soun remembered was stowed away in a cupboard by the washroom. He seldom had occasion to pull it out in the past, as no one else in the family played. Soon, everything else was forgotten as the game began in earnest.

Kasumi decided she would take the opportunity presented to get to know Ranma, even if it was just to chat. She didn't have all that many friends at school, but that wasn't much of a real concern to her. She spent the majority of her time studying for entrance exams, and applying for any financial aid that she qualified for. The dojo hadn't seen a student outside of Akane for going on seven years now. Father just didn't have the drive that he once held, she had to admit.

"So, Ranma. You've been traveling all around since you were, what, six or seven years old? What sort of places have you been to?" Since he'd been awfully quiet since he arrived, she wasn't all too sure what to talk about. She also didn't hang around too many boys her own age, so the task was daunting in of itself. At the moment, she was retrieving the tea cups, so she only saw him as a shape out of the corner of her eye. 

He hadn't so much as moved an inch from where he'd stopped upon entering the kitchen. "Ranma"  
Kasumi asked again, wondering absently if the boy was mute, or just horribly anti-social. Grasping the last cup, she put it on the counter and gave her guest her full attention. Upon turning around, it appeared that she already had his. He was alternating his gaze from her, to the tea kettle she'd set out,  
and finally back again. His head was half canted to the side, set in the same way as when she'd first introduced herself by the front door. The overall effect of his pose was vaguely familiar to her, though she was at a loss as to what exactly he reminded her of.

Now that she was much closer to him, she noticed something odd. Since he'd been sitting sort of hunched over back at the table, she'd not noticed it, but there was a thick metal necklace hanging about his throat. What a strange decoration, she wanted to say, since it caught her by surprise. Kasumi wanted to ask him about it, even if it was a little rude in her view. However, Ranma never even answered her first question which made it difficult to continue asking him much of anything. So caught up in her flustered state, that she almost missed it when he spoke. 

Just one word was all he said,"Eight."

"I'm sorry, what do you mean? Eight?"

This time, Ranma looked away slightly as he replied, "Eight years. Not six or seven years."

"Oh, I see," and then she realized what he was talking about. But, that would make him the same age as her! Kasumi thought for sure that he was younger, possibly even more than Akane's sixteen years. He certainly looked it, with the baggy clothes and tousled shoulder length hair. "So, did you like it, on the road I mean?"

He was quicker to respond this time. And the answer was just as brief, "No."

"Oh my, it must've not been very fun for you then," she struggled for something more to say. One word answers made it hard for her to sustain any kind of conversation. She wondered if perhaps Akane would have an easier time talking to Ranma. They did share more in common after all. Maybe once the tea was done, she would send him her way.

Out in the dojo, Akane was having a discussion all her own, with a punching bag. Left jab, elbow,  
spinning backfist. Again and again she pummeled the sand filled canvas. The dull thuds of impact filled the room as the young Tendou worked out her frustrations. It never failed to amaze her how five minutes of beating the tar out of could settle her nerves so effectively.

Just as she was about to start in on another round with the heavy bag, she heard a knock at the dojo door. If it was anyone other than Kas, she was going to explode. "Yeah, who is it," Akane called out,  
walking over to grab a towel to wipe the sweat from her forehead.

"It's Kasumi, and Ranma," her sister's voice came through the door, muffled and quiet. Not that it was ever loud.

Akane huffed and blew her bangs out of her eyes before sliding the door open. It figured that her sister would drag along the bane of her future existence. She didn't have anything against the guy, since she'd only met him thirty minutes ago. But, his reason for being here was a major problem. "Dad didn't send you two out here did he?"

Shaking her head, Kasumi told her sister that the two men were busy playing a round of shogi that was apt to last all night the way they were having at it. She'd left the tray of tea on the table and they'd all but ignored it so far. That left her with little to do but visit with their other guest. "I was thinking maybe the two of you could find something to do," Kasumi motioned toward the Saotome boy who was standing in the doorway, looking out at the koi pond. "I tried talking to him while I made tea, but he's very, reserved," she leaned over, stage-whispering to her sister.

Taking her sister's comments into consideration, the gi-clad girl walked over and stood by Ranma. His father said he was one of the best of their generation at martial arts. That alone was enough to catch her attention. Besides, even if the comment was fatherly boasting, the guy'd been out training for ten years. Maybe he'd picked up a handy move or two that she could incorporate into her own growing list of techniques. "Hey, Ranma, you want to come inside, so I can shut the door. It's getting a little cold out."

Ranma turned at the sound of Akane's voice, and fixed his eyes on her for a moment before dragging himself out of the doorway.

"Thanks," she slid the door shut, "Say, you wouldn't mind showing us a bit of your art would you?"

She was rewarded with a look from him that plainly stated he had no clue what she was talking about. Either that, or he was being conceited. "I know you just got in an all, but I wouldn't mind seeing something basic I guess. Nothing too fancy." None of her friends were martial artists by any stretch,  
so she was just hazarding guesses on how to go about asking for a demonstration. It wasn't like she was asking him to do acrobatics. She just wanted to see how the two schools compared to each other. Preferably without resorting to sparring him. That wasn't her style. She didn't want a 'win-lose'  
situation, not yet anyway.

While she was gauging his reaction and waiting for a him to say something one way or the other, she noticed the strange metal ring clasped to his neck. Some kind of fashion statement? "Hey, are you wearing a collar?"

As the words left her mouth, she wondered if maybe she should've said 'necklace' or a word other than collar. The look she got from her sister confirmed her doubts. She might as well forget about any demo if Ranma took offense to her question. But, she didn't have to worry, as he only gave her another weird look. Alright, play it like that, she thought. "This thing on your neck, what is it," she puncutated her statement by walking up to him and reaching for the metal 'whatever-it-was'.

Her fingers barely managed to brush up against the cool surface of the collar when they were batted away before she could blink.

"Whoa, ok. Settle down, I won't touch your stupid collar. Fine. I just wanted to know why you're wearing it," Akane was already moving back toward her sister. He didn't have to slap her hand like that if he didn't want someone to touch his goofy collar. "He should've just said something earlier."

"I did say he was reserved Akane," Kasumi added she watched her sister rub her reddening hand.

"You call that reserved? He might as well have tried to bite me. How old is he anyway, twelve?"

"Actually, Akane, I think he's eighteen."

"Right, I'm supposed to believe that," Akane scoffed.

"Well, he doesn't look it does he."

"Or act like it for that matter," the younger of the two shook the numbness out of her hand. "He's pretty strong, I'll give him that."

The sisters stopped bantering between themselves and looked over at Ranma, who hadn't moved a muscle, and was watching them in turn. Kasumi was about to say something, anything to break the tension that had sprung up in the dojo, but her sister beat her to it. "Sorry about all of that, and the whole necklace thing. Look, we're just trying to deal with this whole sudden engagement. Did you just find out about it too?" If he didn't want to talk about martial arts, then maybe the arranged marriage hanging over their collective heads would prompt a discussion.

"Fish. I saw the fish outside, in the water," Ranma pointed out much to the confusion of the girls.

Moving the final piece, Soun secured his victory at last. "Saotome, it looks as if the game is mine," he announced with a dry tone, but cracked a smile as the words fell.

"Indeed so, Tendou. That puts you still three victories behind me. Hah!"

"Now, Saotome, no need to gloat. Shall we play again, and give you the chance to try and keep your lead?"

Genma grumped, but began resetting the shogi board nonetheless. He hadn't had so much fun in a long time. Probably more than a decade ago in all actuality. And that was a very sobering thought indeed. "Tendou, what say we get a few drinks in us before the next match starts?"

"A good idea. I'm sure I have a bottle of genjou or two stored away for such an occasion," Soun stood up to find the drinks, and came back shortly. "Here we are," he eyed the board as he poured two saucers. "I believe it's your turn to start."

As the game began in earnest, and the men had downed a few drinks, the Tendou patriarch decided to voice a few of his concerns about the matter of joining the schools. "I couldn't help but notice, about your boy, Ranma."

"Hmm, what about the boy?"

"He seemed to be taking everything very well, considering."

"Ah, fear not Tendou, the boy is a little on the quiet side," Genma captured another of his opponent's pieces in a deft move.

"But, he did seem a little...I can't explain it," Soun shook his head in mild frustration. He took pains not to offend the other man at times, but they'd pretty much grown up together. So, he decided to be as blunt as was within his bounds. Or it could've been the alcohol working him over. "Come now Saotome. You are stepping around something. I can see it in your face."

Which was certainly true of the balding martial artist. He was fidgeting around with his glasses,  
pretending to clean a smudge that wasn't there. Slipping the lenses back on, he took another drink and re-composed himself. "You have me Tendou. It's true. The boy, he's, well," Genma searched for the right words to describe the situation. And then he had an idea that would make everything clear. "Take a look at this Tendou, it should help explain things," the rotund man reached for his knapsack, and pulled out a well-worn book that had been wrapped in an old cloth. Handing it over to his friend, he let Soun leaf through it.

"Is this a training manual? Some of these techniques are quite daring."

"That's what I thought too, back when I stumbled upon it years ago."

Soun took that to mean the martial artist had probably 'liberated' it from some unlucky source. As he skimmed further and further into the book, his eyes gradually widened, considerably more so once he reached an especially worn segment toward the end. "You actually found it Saotome? The dreaded cat-fist training technique," Soun's words held no small measure of awe and dread in them.

"Yes, and I wish that I'd never come across it."

Reading more of the details involved in the training, Soun regarded Genma. "You don't mean you put the boy through this?"

"Around the middle of the first year of the trip. We'd just arrived in an older prefecture, and I found the perfect place. Just as the book describes. It did take some effort on my part to gather all of the cats,  
let me tell you. But, finally, everything was in place, and I proceeded with the training."

"Genma, but the last page says the technique is unusable. More of a cruel joke than anything else," the long-haired man was aghast.

"I only found out much later. You see, the last page was stuck to the page before it. There wasn't anything to claim is was a fake technique. The book claimed it would make the practitioner unbeatable. An unstoppable warrior. Think of it, the perfect technique right there, within my grasp. As a martial artist, I had no other choice. But, had I known of the cruel truth, I would've found some other way."

"You still haven't told me what happened to the boy. What went wrong?"

Ranma's father sighed and rubbed his forehead. "What went wrong, well, the training itself was a wash from the very start. I tried using different kinds of fish for the paste, more cats. Everything I could think of to improve the methods. None of them worked though. I put the boy in the pit around five, maybe six times. The first few went badly, and the boy didn't seem to be learning anything, other than how to curl into an infuriatingly tight ball," Genma paused at the memory, taking another sip of sake.

"You know the feeling Tendou, I'd do anything for the art, and this was my one regret. In the end, I may have gone too far. I don't know the exact details of it myself, but the final time Ranma went into that pit, the ordeal must have been too much for the boy's mind. He snapped down there. The cats were going crazy, hissing and spitting, yowling in the darkness. I'd put a lid over the hole you see, so none of the cats would escape. The lid also kept me from seeing what was going on. Only when the scuffle died down, did I dare to risk a peek."

"Had the cats somehow calmed down?"

"No, far from it Soun. They were all dead. In fact, I had trouble telling that any of the remains had once been cats at all. There was so much blood and carnage. And in the middle of it all, looking pleased with himself, was my son."

The shogi game had long since stopped in favor of the riveting tale that was unfolding, and despite himself, Soun was interested to learn the fate of Ranma that day. "Was it the cat-fist?" Had the boy somehow learned a bizarre fighting technique, Soun wondered.

"At first, that's what I thought," Genma nodded. "Then the boy took notice of me, and growled. I found myself almost instantly on the defensive as he leapt up at me from the bottom of the pit. He might have gotten to me right away if I'd not have shut the lid so quickly. Even that didn't hold him for long."

"He was growling? Like a...," Soun's conjecture was interrupted by Genma.

"Yes, like a dog. Later on, after I found the hidden page, I realized that his mind must've snapped from the stress back in the pit. Instead of losing his mind to his fear, he adapted to it instead. If there's one thing I'm proud to say, is that my boy is very good at adapting to new situations. That alone has placed him leaps and bounds ahead of other martial artists."

It was all beginning to make sense to Soun. As the tale neared its end, he came to the same conclusion Genma had, all those years ago. "Ranma's mind somehow became like that of a dog, the natural enemy of all cats. Is that right, Saotome?"

Genma nodded in assent. "That's what dawned on me as well. But, unfortunately, I was never able to fully restore him to his right mind. I tried many methods that have been proven successful in the past in mental hospitals. After reading over several books on the subject of shock and personality disorders, I determined that what Ranma needed was a greater shock to his system that would overshadow the barrier in his mind. That's part of why we are only now returning to Nerima. I found a partial cure in the wilds of China."

"A partial cure? But, he seemed to be acting fine to me. Not at all how a dog would behave."

"True Tendou. But, acting is all it was. A boy with the mind of a dog, that's trained to act like a man. But, in China, we stumbled upon a mystical place. A cursed training ground, where I hoped to use magic to cure him. A place called, Jusenkyou." 

---

It had been raining nonstop for what felt like ages to the two waterlogged travelers. Slogging through the underbrush, Genma Saotome pushed aside an errant branch and held his arm out to signal a halt to the boy. It appeared that the path he'd been told about ended here. The torrents of water must've washed away the path in a mudslide, for the cliff ahead had sloped off into a miniature waterfall, the contents of which vanished into the mists far below.

Overlooking the steep drop, the hefty martial artist grumped. This meant they'd have to find another way down into the valley. "Come on boy, it looks like we need to backtrack a little," he turned away from the drop off and walked past his son, who followed wordlessly. This would all be worth it in the end, Genma thought, if the legend could be believed, his son's cure was waiting; for down there, lay the pools of sorrow, Jusenkyo.

Nearly thirty minutes later, they'd made it down the mountainside and into the valley proper. Miles from civilization, the two Japanese had struggled, working their way into the very heart of mainland China. Jusenkyo had not been an easy place to reach, by any means. It was nestled within the Bayankala range, making for rugged travel, and next to no forged paths. 

Despite the seemingly remote location, once the Saotomes pierced the veil of mist that enshrouded the valley, they found themselves staring at a small, but tidy hut. At first, Genma thought the place to be abandoned, but the very faint telltale sign of smoke trailing upwards from a hole in the thatched roof was proof to the contrary. It occurred to him then, that whoever lived here, would likely know if the legends surrounding the valley were true. Actually, the first thing that came to mind, was a chance to dry off someplace warm. 

"What do you think, Ranma? Shall we check it out," while the large man didn't expect much of an answer from his son, he constantly conferred with the boy. Where words wouldn't work, Ranma never failed to indicate he was listening. Genma had long ago come to understand the little nuances that made up his son's responses. The lilt of his head, a halting step in disagreement, those things were all part of the intricate sum that composed his boy's unique personality. Ranma the dog.

That was why he'd dragged his son here, across an ocean and a desert. Though in hindsight, Genma wished he'd not chosen the rainy season to make the long trek in.

"You sirs are fortunate this one was home. To come here on such a day, is maybe, unlucky. But,  
honored customers, tell this one, what has brought you all the way to the pools of sorrow," the owner of the hut was quick with his questions, spoken in broken, but quite formal Japanese. The two dirty and sodden visitors had come knocking scarcely five minutes ago, and now were in the process of wringing out their clothes into a wooden bucket that he'd provided.

Genma finished shaking the water out of his gi top, and started on Ranma's. The boy had shaken himself in the doorway upon entering, and seemed quite satisfied with the resulting spatter of droplets flung from his unruly locks. That alone was one of the few habits that Genma'd been unable to change. Mostly because it didn't happen often, and hardly ever in the presence of others. When the boy had been younger, it hadn't mattered much in the first place. As his father had found out, children could get away with the most bizarre behaviors and only have the parents, in those cases, Genma himself, to blame.

"So, this is really the place then, Jusenkyo," Genma spoke, but the other man wasn't quite sure who his guest was addressing. "I was told this place holds a very powerful magic."

"Yes, honored customer. There are many cursed springs here. Many," the little man had been boiling water for a pot of tea while he waited on these new visitors to the valley.

"Cursed springs. Then the legends are true, a cursed training ground. You hear that boy! We've found it, after so long," Ranma's father hung the damp garments over the bucket, after dumping the water outside. Fishing a change of clothes for the two of them from his pack, Genma dressed his himself and his son. "When this weather clears, I wish to take a look at the springs. I have one in mind. Do you have a map of the valley," He asked their host.

"No sirs, but if this one would be acceptable as a guide? This one knows each spring by name and tragic story," the Jusenkyo guide was happy for once that a visitor was actually waiting around to ask for directions. Too many had gotten themselves lost, and had only succeeded in adding to the already lengthy list of tragic stories he had to memorize each year. If he could be of help, and have these two on their way by tomorrow, then he would be happy. Though it was nice to have company once in a while.

For his part, the elder Saotome was pleased to hear such an offer. It would save him time in having to check each spring one by one. Using the wrong spring by accident was also unthinkable. He would not have a son that was not human in body as well as mind. No mere animal could be heir to Musabetsu kakuto Saotome Ryu. It was unthinkable. This was his last resort; only a handful of springs in this valley had the potential to cure Ranma as he saw it. It had to be a spring cursed by the death of a human being.

"We're looking for the spring of drowned young man," Genma informed the guide as light glinted off of his spectacles.

---

Soun was transfixed, "Saotome, did you find it then? The spring of drowned boy?" As Genma had yet to go into detail of the true nature of the waters of Jusenkyo, Soun could only wait until the tale had fully unfolded. His bespectacled friend had recounted one harrowing adventure after another, finally reaching near the end of his, and the boy's journey.

"Where was I? Ah, you see, with dire warnings from the Jusenkyo guide, we, Ranma and I, had to wait until the rain completely ceased. Otherwise, it would be dangerous to go out near any of the pools if by chance they had overflowed onto the pathways."

---

After an hour of restless waiting, the steady drum of rain on the rooftop slowly faded. A look outside the hut showed that the mist was still thick, but that it was beginning to fray out into wisps as it neared the small building. Genma wanted to do this, and get back to Japan as soon as possible. Life on the road was harsh, and he wanted to be back in his own house. See his wife, and finally train the boy properly. So much left to do, and here he was feeling far older than his forty odd years should account for.

"Sirs, this one would humbly suggest waiting for the rain water to dry before visiting the pools. It would be very tragic indeed if one stepped into the mixed waters of Jusenkyo."

Taking the advice into consideration, Genma decided to wait a little longer. Besides, what was a few hours wait in the face of ten years on the road? But a drop in the ocean, he thought. He was getting a little nervous about this whole thing after all. This was the last resort, no, the last hope, for Ranma. Genma would be damned if he'd let some half-baked 'doctor' dig around in his heir's mind. Jusenkyo would work, it had to.

Across the room, Ranma was sitting idly, staring at something only he could see. He'd been amiable the whole trip, mostly due to the rain. The boy didn't really like to get wet, but he loved to play in the puddles left from the rain. But not here. His son had been apprehensive the whole morning. Genma supposed it was something in the air, Ranma was sensitive to that sort of thing. It'd been handy many times in the past, sort of a living barometer. Genma only had to pay attention to his son's moods to figure out certain weather patterns, something he might come to miss in the future.

Checking the conditions outside every so often, the guide finally determined it was relatively safe to show his customers to the pool they'd requested. "Honored customers, it is time to go now."

Leaving the hut, Genma followed the guide with Ranma loping along in between the two men. Winding around dozens of small pools, they finally came to a spot just near the edge of one of the larger pools. It was more like a small pond in Genma's opinion, with the large bamboo poles jutting out of the center. For balance training maybe, he supposed. The bamboo was too regularly placed to be natural.

"This is the pool you seek," the guide intoned. "The Spring of Drowned boy."

"You're sure about this, guide? There's no sign on this one, like the others," indeed Genma felt his concern was well warranted. Each of the other pools had small signs written in chinese near their banks.

The guide nodded, and rooted around in the grass at the pool's edge, eventually picking up a sign. "You see, sirs? This is the sign. Fallen from the rain maybe."

Before the guide could say much more, Genma had taken his son by the collar about his neck and heaved the boy into the waters.

"Ah! What you doing sirs," the guide hadn't expected the customer to toss in his son. Especially into a pool that would hardly be making any difference. "Honored Customer, this is Spring of Drowned Boy,  
why," his question was cut off as the unwitting participant of the whole affair broke the surface of the water.

"Boy, how do you feel? Any different," Genma waited eagerly as Ranma swam back to the bank and started climbing out. Even then, the Saotome patriarch knew something was a bit, off. "Boy?"

As the customer's son made his way out of the water, the guide was thinking the same thing as Genma. The boy looked, smaller, somehow. That's when his foot stepped onto something hard, prompting him to look downwards. He was standing on a sign post for one of the springs. Moving his foot to read the characters, his eyes went wide as the symbols registered. "Sirs, that is the wrong spring," though he knew it was far too late at this point. "Is spring of," again he was cut off.

The girl that had clambered out of the water wasn't what he'd been expecting at all. Nor was he expecting the confused, not so pleased expression on said girl's face. "Drowned girl," Genma finished the guide's sentence with a droll tone . This wasn't going to go over well back at home. Imagine,  
leaving with a son and returning with a daughter. His wife was going to kill him for sure.

---

"But, Saotome, who is it then, that is with my daughters right now, if as you say, your son is now a girl?"

Neither of the Tendou sisters could figure the boy out. When he wasn't babbling about obvious things,  
he was giving them the oddest looks. Almost as if he were waiting for something. After mentioning the Koi, he'd hedged his way back to the doorway, and stood there ramrod straight. Akane nudged her sister, and they exchanged shrugs. "What's his deal," she asked before looking awkwardly back at their guest.

"Of course there's fish in there. It's a pond," she pointed out, not knowing what else to say.

"Akane, maybe he wants to go see it, and is trying to be polite about it," Kasumi suggested in a whisper. "We could go take a look."

Her sister was dubious about that though. "Kas, is it a good idea to let 'master of the obvious' over there near deep water? I mean, he doesn't seem all there, you know? What if he falls in and drowns"

"Akane, I don't think he's going to fall in. Besides, it's barely a meter deep," Kasumi reassured her sister. "We can go, um, take a look around the back yard if you like, Ranma," she said, moving toward the door.

The moment the door to the dojo slid open, Ranma was off and moving before either of the sisters had a chance to react. Kasumi herself was bowled over by the large body brushing past her.

"Hey! What's the big deal," Akane shouted after the obviously crazy boy. Helping Kasumi to her feet,  
she scowled, rushing out after the nutcase. She couldn't figure out what kind of game he thought he was playing, but she was getting tired of his act. Just because he was too stuffy to show her a little bit of his art, didn't mean he had to act like a little kid over it.

Even though it was starting to get dark, she spotted him easily enough, kneeling down next to the pond as a matter of fact. Why had he been in such a hurry to see a bunch of fish, Akane wondered, slowing to a halt a few meters away from the older boy. "Why'd you run off like that? You knocked my sister over, jerk," irritated, Akane almost pushed the boy into the water out of spite, but held herself in check when she heard Kasumi's faint tread on the ground behind her. Guest or not, that had been plain rude.

"My, he really did want to see the fish didn't he," Kasumi spoke as she came up behind them.

At this point, Ranma, mostly ignoring the two sisters, had since kneeled down and had his face inches from the water. Watching the fish lazily float by, his head leaned from side to side as each new fish passed.  
Akane gave up and left, before she actually followed through and kicked Ranma into the pond. Kasumi watched her leave in a huff, and shook her head. Maybe this boy wasn't as into martial arts as his father had claimed. Either way, she sat back on her heels in the grass and sat quietly until her eccentric guest was done.

Just as Genma was wrapping up the story of Jusenkyo, Akane came inside from the backyard,  
brushing past the two men. As she passed by, Soun called to her. He nearly regretted it when she turned to look at him, still scowling. "Akane, are you getting along with Ranma?"

"With that weirdo? Hah, as if. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll be in my room. I still have some homework left," true to her word, she vanished up the stairs a moment later, punctuating her ire with a door slam.

"Is she always that agreeable Tendou?"

"No, it comes and goes Saotome. Something she inherited from her mother. You remember how Kimiko was," a note of longing and regret accompanied Soun's words.

"Ah, I see the resemblance now," Genma searched for something else to take his friend's mind off of his departed wife. "Don't forget Soun, we'll have to tell the girls not to take off Ranma's collar. I wouldn't want them getting hurt. Hopefully, I can fix this mess before too long. Then we can surely join the schools!"

"Our dream will come true then Saotome. Count on me to help you in any way I can. Ranma must come to his senses, for everyone's sake."

The fathers celebrated to the future with another bottle of Genjou.

Once the sun dipped below the horizon, and Ranma could no longer see the fish in the depths of the pond, he got up and stretched. It had been fun, and now he wanted to do something else. "Let's go"  
he reached down to shake the tall girl and get her attention. "Hey, hey. Let's go."

Kasumi blinked, trying to put a face to the strange voice that had woken her. Sitting up, she looked around the dark yard for a second, not fully aware of her surroundings. As the cobwebs cleared from her mind, she recalled watching the Koi, and feeling fairly comfortable in the autumn air. I must have dozed off, she belatedly realized, feeling a slight flush across her face. Falling asleep in front of a guest,  
how embarrassing! And her mind finally matched a face to the voice. Ah, Ranma had been trying to wake her up!

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep out here," Kasumi attempted to placate what she was sure was a slighted boy. The hand that helped pull her to her feet was welcome nonetheless, and she could barely make out an outline of the other in the dark. "Thank you."

"Let's go," Ranma said again, after the girl was up. Genma hardly ever wanted to play around anymore, and as far as he was concerned, Ranma had found a new playmate. One that even had fish! The other one, the Akane, she sounded too much like Genma. Maybe he'd done something 'wrong'  
again. It was hard for Ranma to tell sometimes. So many things he wanted to do, Genma yelled at him for.

"It is getting rather late isn't it," Kasumi thought he meant for them to go back inside. Come to think of it, she hadn't started dinner yet. "Oh, I need to take care of a few things Ranma. Did you want to wash up? I'm sure you'd like to take a bath after your trip," she headed toward the house, noticing a small grass stain on the side of her dress once she was under the porch light. Shaking her head, she remembered the load of wash that needed to be done before morning, the dress would just have to be tossed in along with the rest.

Turning back to make sure Ranma was following, she was startled to find the boy hot on her heels. In fact, as she'd turned to look around, Ranma quickly spun, thinking he was missing out on something.  
The scene was funny enough in of itself to elicit a small laugh on her part. When Ranma spun back around at the sound of her giggle, she apologized and waved it off. "I'll be fixing dinner, so you have time to take a bath if you like," Kasumi noticed a few leaves in his hair, and that his clothes looked much dirtier than she recalled from that afternoon. "In fact, I insist. Ask father, and he'll show you where the furo is," Kasumi then left the boy to his own devices, thinking everything was well in hand.

Ranma was less than happy. A bath? He knew what that meant, and didn't like it one bit.

Minutes later found one despondent Saotome staring with his shoulders hunched up at the outer tiles of the large bath. He'd rather be outside again, but the Kasumi's voice hadn't brooked otherwise, so he'd gone inside the bathing room without a fuss. That didn't mean that he had to actually get into the water though, which meant that he was likely to stand there, glaring at the water, until someone told him it was alright to leave. Face to face with the tub, Ranma's stomach growled. Time passed.

Once the door to the washroom that separated the house from the furo clicked shut, Akane shucked her clothes. She'd already changed out of her gi before studying, and wouldn't have bothered showering since her workout had been cut short by a certain houseguest. Her sister had, of course, said something about 'proper etiquette' and waved her off toward the bath when Akane walked by the kitchen. "She's not usually this stubborn, I can't wait until those two leave," she grabbed a fresh towel from above the hamper and slid open the door to the furo. So absorbed in her thoughts she all but walked straight into a wall that should not have been there.

Landing rear first with an audible slap on the tile, Akane's confusion was momentary as embarrassed anger burned it away the second she realized exactly what she'd collided with. "You," she sputtered at a loss, "Why are you just standing there? There's a sign on the door for a reason!" It was while getting back to her feet that she recalled something vitally important, and the towel unfolded. Partially covered,  
and with her composure almost recovered, Akane was at a loss, more so since Ranma's attention wasn't focused on her. His being clothed helped a little, but only made the situation all the more odd. She'd walked straight into him, and he hadn't even flinched. All he did was stare at the furo, at least,  
until she'd spoken.

He'd heard the doors open and shut, and even the pad of bare feet on tile. When someone bumped against him, he ignored it. Genma made a habit of things like that all the time, or he used to anyway. So, it really didn't bother Ranma, though he perked up a bit when the person started yelling, it was the Akane. That probably meant that they really wanted him to take a bath. But, he didn't have to like it. Sighing, he started fumbling with his t-shirt. Bath, bath, don't like the bath, the thoughts floated around. Off went the shirt, and down dropped the jeans. "I don't like baths," he might have said aloud, or not.

Akane couldn't believe what this boy was doing, stripping down right in front of her like this was the community bathhouse. If he thought she was getting in there with him, well, she just wasn't, fiancees or whatever. Keeping the towel firmly in place, she staggered backwards, with her free hand reaching for the sliding door. She'd forget this ever happened, and just tell Kasumi the bath was occupied, that's what she'd do. The only thing was, Ranma upended the rinsing bucket over his head before Akane made it out of the room. That stopped her as surely as if she'd been turned to stone.

Soun was putting away the shogi board when Akane's scream startled him into nearly dropping his prized board. Kasumi poked her head out of the kitchen to see what the matter was, while Genma polished his glasses and waited for the food. "It was going to happen sooner or later," he said to himself, looking over at the worried face of the eldest daughter. "I'm sure everything's fine with your sister," he paused as a door further into the house slammed open, and the sound of running feet reached his ears. Akane came barreling into the living room, with a hastily wrapped towel about her mid-  
section.

"Ranma, he, the water," Akane babbled at her father, "There's a girl, and Ranma," her voice went quiet as she struggled to form something coherent. 

Soun didn't understand at first, but the recent conversation with Genma clicked, and he figured out what his daughter was trying to get at. But, all that did was to slam home the fact that something terrible had happened to his friend's son on that trip to China. Did this mean that the curse was real? He was curious, but tending to his child was equally important.

"What's wrong Akane," the question came from her sister, who was still unaware of Ranma's condition.

Still holding her father, Akane let go when Kasumi's voice reached her, and she turned to warn her sister as well now that she felt the right words coming to mind. "Ranma, he's a girl, Kas. Right in front of me, I saw him change."

Kasumi took her sister to mean something completely different, and a bit more sensible. "Akane, some people are into that sort of thing, I think. I hope you didn't give him, my. No, her, too much of a hassle." Fixing a glare at the fathers, she continued, "You both knew of this? And you still wanted to try and go through with this arranged marriage nonsense," the frosty tone in her voice was unmistakable. Then Kasumi sort of frowned, "Ranma certainly looks rather like a boy."

Akane goggled at her sister, she thinks I meant Ranma was cross-dressing! "No, Kasumi, he's not dressing like a boy, he was a boy at first, and then turned into a girl!"

Now it was Kasumi's turn to be taken aback. This was certainly a different matter. "Mr. Saotome, did you condone Ranma's operation?" 

The Saotome patriarch felt a headache coming on. "Ranma, boy! Get out here!" It would be best to just get everything out of the way. This was the part he'd been dreading, and it would only be worse later with his wife. If he could just work things out with the Tendou's, maybe the return home could be prolonged for a while longer, a few years if he was lucky.

They didn't have to wait long for Ranma to show, wearing only his collar. Kasumi blushed, Akane boggled along with her father, and Genma just shook his head. "Clothes, boy. Get your clothes on first."

By morning, things had settled down in the Tendou household. For Akane it was all going smoothly,  
until she went downstairs to eat breakfast. The dog was waiting for her. Or that's how she felt at any rate. In actuality Ranma paid very little attention to the girl who constantly glared at him. He was far more comfortable in the presence of the Kasumi, barring that, even Genma would do. Not that any of those things were foremost, since there was food to be had. Food first, and everything else could wait.

Kasumi, had taken the whole matter in stride, mostly. If it bothered her, she certainly didn't let it show,  
not in front of others. Truth be told, it had taken her longer that usual to get to sleep last night, though she'd risen early regardless. She wasn't sure which part affected her more, the curse Ranma was under, or the state of his mind. He didn't seem too out of the ordinary, but it would go a ways toward explaining some of his mannerisms. Watching him discreetly, she wondered if his eating habits were ingrained, or a canine mimicry, the boy was a voracious eater. Then again, she caught sight of Saotome Genma, maybe it was hereditary after all.

As soon as everyone finished, Kasumi began cleaning up, leaving her father to leaf through the newspaper, and Genma to nurse another cup of tea. Akane was already gathering her things for class,  
and was heading to the front door before anyone could say anything. "Akane, I put your lunch on the counter. Don't leave it behind like yesterday," she called out after her younger sister.

"Don't worry Kas, I grabbed it when I came down. Thanks," the reply floated back through the open door, before being cut off. Kasumi just shook her head, Akane always did things the hard way. Especially over the past year. Did her little sister still blame herself? She hoped not.

Coming back out of the kitchen, Ranma was nowhere to be found. Kasumi wondered if she should say anything, though a second look at Genma changed her mind. He didn't appear too concerned, and he was the boy's father after all. Ranma was probably around the house, or out in the back, looking at the fish again. "Has anyone seen Ranma?" Pausing to towel dry her hands, she decided to see if he was in the backyard when the only response she received was the rustle of newspaper.

A thorough search of the grounds proved fruitless. If Ranma was anywhere around the house, he was very good at hiding as Kasumi had even taken a look at the crawlspace beneath the flooring. He wasn't in the backyard, or in the dojo. Feeling a hint of worry, she tried asking Genma if he knew where his son might have gone, but Saotome only shook his head. "I'm sure the boy's fine. He does this from time to time." He did however excuse himself to go search the area. Kasumi wasn't sure, but as Genma left, she thought he was muttering about ungrateful children, and dutiful wives. The last few comments might have been directed at her, but she couldn't be certain since her father started coughing.

She wondered if maybe Ranma might have followed after her sister. It didn't seem likely, given that Akane would have marched the boy right back to the house by his collar if need be. Those two hadn't gotten along from the start, though that was more to do with her head strong sibling if anything. Ranma was a bit distant to start an argument from his side. If what Genma said the night before was accurate,  
then the boy would roll over for just about anyone, figuratively of course. His father hadn't sounded pleased in the least about that.

Kasumi felt a little bit silly calling out Ranma's name around the neighborhood like he was a lost child,  
or a pet. She couldn't think of a better way to find him though, other than asking some of the neighbors if they'd seen a teenage boy wandering by. She'd gone out with the intention of helping Genma, but hadn't seen the portly man the entire time, not since he rounded the first corner at the end of the block. The thought that the boy's father had just circled around and gone back to her house did occur to her,  
but she did her best to push it aside. After all, what kind of father would leave his child? She had no way of knowing that the version of the story told to Akane and herself wasn't the same that Soun had learned.

On a nearby side street Ranma sat on his haunches, fixedly staring at an orangish-brown cat. He'd been following it for quite a while, after seeing it walking along the Tendou's outer wall. So far, the cat hadn't reacted to his presence more than to mewl when he got too close. He followed it anyway, since it kept to higher places, making a game out of just keeping up. This was probably the most fun he'd had in a very long time. From the alley, to a wall, and finally to the roofs, the chase was on.

The Tendou girl was ready to check back at the house, when a large shadow passed overhead. Blinking, she looked up to a clear blue sky. Strange, she thought, there's not a cloud in sight. Her attention was suddenly pulled to the right by a flurry of motion. Craning her neck, she could just make out a figure darting across the rooftop of the house across the street. She'd known the boy for less than a day, but his wild mop of hair stood out anywhere she was certain. Ranma was running across the roofs, it was a wonder that she'd found him at all.

"Ranma, Ranma come back," she called out to the retreating form to no avail. She would have to get closer, but he was moving much faster than she could on the ground, and her shoes weren't exactly made for running in. But, she did anyway, for about a block and a half before her body got the better of her. "I need to get out more," Kasumi lamented through labored breaths. She'd lost sight of him again anyway a minute or so back. She couldn't be sure, but it seemed his present course would run him near to Furinkan, where Akane was attending school. Hopefully, she could find his father, as Genma would be more suited to pursuing the boy.

Meanwhile, the boy who thought he was a dog, was having the time of his life. Somewhere along the way, the cat had escaped him, but this new feeling of freedom that he'd found was too exhilarating for the details to matter. He ran, leaping from each new roof to the next, scrambling across the tiles,  
searching for new heights and things to play with. And he saw it, a place larger than anything he'd found so far in this place Genma had brought him to. It was a huge multi-storied building, and there were only a few people around. If he hurried, he could make it to the top in no time.

-- end part 1-- 


	2. Part 2

Ranma and Co. is Copyright Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan, Inc. 1993

Ranma 1/2 is a trademark of Viz Communications, Inc.

A Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction/Danny the Dog by S³

Circle that Binds - part 2

Kasumi started back home, sure that was the best place to find Genma, when she passed by a familiar building, belonging to the family doctor, Toufuu Ono. Actually, she was in luck, doctor Toufuu was out front sweeping the steps, maybe he'd seen one of the errant Saotomes. "Good morning Doctor," Kasumi stopped to greet him.

"Hmm? Ah, Kasumi, what a surprise to see you," Toufuu began fiddling with the broom as he addressed the young Tendou. "I don't think I've seen you since," the doctor's face fell in memory, and he struggled for a more pleasant thought. "Well, at any rate, what brings you by? Nothing serious I hope." Toufuu set the broom aside at some point, and had clasped his hands behind his back.

"Actually, I was wondering if you might have seen a young boy pass by this way recently? Or a larger man in a white gi? They're father's guests, and aren't familiar with the area. The boy wandered off, and I'm out looking for him."

Toufuu appeared thoughtful, "Akane and a few other kids walked by earlier, but no one that I didn't recognize. How old is the boy? I can keep watch if you like."

Kasumi figured the doctor probably hadn't seen Ranma, since he would have had to be watching the rooftops. That meant that Genma hadn't gone this way either. "Ranma's my age actually, the boy staying at the house," she was about to try and describe him when she noticed the doctor had seized up, and had gone pale. "Doctor, are you alright?"

The Doctor didn't respond right away, but the color finally started to return to his face once she spoke to him. "I-I'm sorry Kasumi, I must've swallowed wrong. You were saying," he coughed into his hand a bit, rather unconvincingly.

Ranma, he's about your height, I think, probably a little thinner though. He's wearing a plain t-shirt and jeans, and his hair is all puffy," she held a few strands of her hair out in an approximation of Ranma's hairstyle. "Like this."

Toufuu did his best to hold back a chuckle. "I'll call your house if I see him. Sorry I couldn't be of more help to you, Kasumi."

"Not at all, well, I need to get back. Have a good day, Doctor," she departed with a smile. Perhaps she'd run into Genma on the way home. He did say that Ranma did this sort of thing from time to time. It was entirely possible the boy might return before Kasumi herself did. Besides, even if he wasn't there, she did want to change into something more appropriate for an excursion. Akane would have some of Kasumi's old clothes in her closet. She'd just have to reclaim them for a little while.

As it turned out, neither Genma, nor Ranma had been at her house. When she asked her father, he'd told her that Genma hadn't been back since he first left that morning. Now here she was aimlessly wandering around Nerima looking for a boy she hardly knew, and she wasn't quite sure why. Did she feel sorry for him? Was this out of pity? That was only part of the reason she realized, though couldn't put into words the rest. There was obligation, certainly, to the safety of her houseguest, but that didn't truly extend beyond certain boundaries. For all his eighteen years, Ranma functioned as a child might, and therein lay the obligation she felt. Still.

In another time and place, the boy who was Ranma might have been feeling a sense of accomplishment, a welling pride. In the here and now joy was the only tangible thing, and a bit of hunger. He stood atop the roof of Furinkan High School, on the edge, smiling down at the town spread out before him. Had he gone very far? It certainly didn't seem like it. Below him, the place was full of people; he'd seen them through the windows on his way up. It didn't really matter, since no one paid him any attention. Everyone was too busy to play, and most of them looked sad and tired anyway.

He thought about heading back. Unfortunately, taking another look down, it was hard to tell which way it was to the place he needed to go. Once he got back to the ground, he could find it, he was certain.

Ranma wandered around for the better part of an hour, trying to find the way back, which ended up being a lot harder than he'd first thought. All the houses looked the same to him, and he'd been up top on the way to the big building, so the streets were unfamiliar. This wasn't making him happy, and Genma would be angry if he took too long, he knew that from experience. Other times, when he'd wandered off, it had been away from town, and much easier to find the campsite again. There were too many distractions here, among the houses. So much so, that he didn't hear his name being called, not until the person was almost on top of him.

"Ranma, there you are, I've been looking everywhere for you," a familiar voice called from over the boy's shoulder.

He spun around, only to find the Kasumi was right behind him. He couldn't place the look on her face, but it seemed like a happy one, so he smiled back since it seemed the thing to do. She might have been about to say something, but instead she put a hand on his shoulder for a moment, and asked if he was ready to go back to the house. Ranma just followed her lead.

"I'm home," when Akane walked in the door, she was surprised to find her sister sitting on the couch. At second glance, Kasumi was taking a nap, with her head propped up on a cushion. Usually, her sister was getting ready to make dinner at around this time. To catch her sleeping was almost foreign.

"Hey, sis, wake up, it's almost five o'clock." Kasumi only stirred into a more comfortable position.

Decided, Akane went upstairs to put her bag away, her sister could use the rest. Besides, now Akane would have the seldom chance to put together a meal. She hadn't cooked in ages, other than in home economics class, and that had only been a handful of times. Headed toward the stairs, Akane took two

steps and found herself sprawled flat on her face.

"What the," a backward glance found her staring at the shoulders of that damn dog boy. "I'm not making a habit of this," she groaned, and levered her legs off of his body. "Why's he sleeping right here in the middle of the floor," she shook her head, and got up to go to her room.

Ranma stretched, and sat up. He didn't know what had woken him, but now that he was up anyway; "Hungry," a rumble from his stomach agreed completely. There was no sign of either Genma or the mustachioed man nearby, but he did find the Kasumi. She was still not awake, though this was not a concern to Ranma. He knew where the food was; he'd seen the Kasumi getting it before.

He stuck his head into the refrigerator, eyed the contents, and closed the door with a small thump. He didn't want vegetables, and the only other thing in there had been assorted plastic containers, none of which appeared very appetizing. The kitchen itself wasn't more than a nook really, with a few cabinets, a sink, and two cupboards. The things under the sink didn't smell like food, so he ignored them in favor of exploring some of the low cabinets. They were full of pans, pots, and things, nothing edible though.

Ranma was disappointed, but not disheartened just yet.

Back in the living room, Ranma lightly prodded Kasumi a few times, and shook her shoulders a little when poking her received no response. "Hey, open your eyes, hey," Ranma leaned in, the buckles on his collar jingled softly as he did his best to wake her.

"Mmm, Akane, leave me alone," Kasumi muttered into the cushion. She burrowed her face a bit deeper to get away, which only served to make Ranma increase his efforts. "'kane, c'mon, what time's it?" Kasumi rolled back over and hedged open one sleepy eye to find the clock above the television. She found herself staring into a pair of gray eyes instead. "Oh my," she exclaimed, startling the boy from his position scant centimeters from her face. "Ranma, don't scare me like that!" When he didn't turn away, she began to feel a little self-conscious.

In the end, it was Kasumi who broke the impromptu staring contest, and found the clock instead. "Ah, it's getting late," she moved to get up, "I'd better get started, or father might decide to order take-out again. He always calls the expensive places," she shook her head in exasperation. Making a small list in her head, the brunette nodded to herself, "I just need to make a quick trip to the corner store," she noticed Ranma was still focused on her, "What do you think, I don't really want to leave you here by yourself, so shall we go," it wasn't really a question that she expected him to answer, but she got an eager nod just the same. "Good, I'll put a note by the phone, in case father or Akane come home before we get back," she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and went to do just that.

By the time Akane returned down from her room, Ranma and Kasumi were already on their way, though the note went unnoticed by the younger Tendou. She did however see that her sister wasn't on the couch, and there was no lazy log to be found blocking the way into the living room. Shrugging, she decided that her sister must have gone up to her bedroom, or maybe she was soaking in the furo.

Where Ranma had gone, she could care less. If she was lucky, he and his father were back on the road. Just in case, she'd make a little extra, that way there would be enough for lunch tomorrow barring the return of the Saotomes. Akane turned on the small radio sitting on the windowsill and rolled up her sleeves. This would be so exciting; it'd been too long since she was last in charge of the kitchen!

Soun and Genma came back only minutes before Kasumi and Ranma walked in through the front gate, the latter carrying a few grocery bags. Kasumi had decided on a quick dish of steamed chicken, Shiitake, and long onion, which would only take twenty minutes to prepare, perhaps a little longer with the addition of Ranma and his father. So it was the two men that first encountered the interesting smell wafting out from the Tendou kitchen, not to say anything of the state of said kitchen, which Kasumi found out for herself.

"Kasumi, you're back," a watery-eyed Soun appeared almost too glad to see his eldest daughter. That Genma's eyes were watering too didn't escape the tall girl, catching her off guard. She wasn't aware of too many men aside from her own father that let emotions get the better of them. And then a staggering wave of freshly cut onion struck her along with the astringent scent. "It's Akane isn't it," she caught on to the situation almost immediately. "I'd better go check on things, I do hope she didn't put them all into the steamer again. Let's go put the bags away, Ranma."

"It stinks," Ranma understated, crinkling his nose as he followed close behind the Kasumi. He'd stuck by her all the way from the house, to the store, and back. He'd even carried the plastic bags that she'd given him without complaint. He gathered that the Akane was doing something in the kitchen, and that it was something she shouldn't be. He frowned and went to go see just what it was. He didn't like that his eyes were burning, and that it only grew worse closer to where Kasumi was headed.

Frankly, the kitchen wasn't half as bad as Kasumi had been dreading. Either her little sister was improving in her culinary experiments, or she'd run out of ingredients. It was the latter, Kasumi expected. Usually, the counters were cluttered, and the cabinets would be almost bare, with the oven and both stove burners on at the same time. Today, there was one pot, and an allergy inducing rice steamer working overtime. Behind her, she heard the plastic bags hit the floor, and the rustle of the curtain. Well, she didn't blame the boy for taking off this time. "Akane, I thought we talked about this already," Kasumi began from the entrance. "The fan needs to be on when one is cooking."

Soun and Genma exchanged glances at the snippets of debate that reached their ears from Kasumi's domain. Ranma had come out right after dropping off the groceries, and was sitting on one of the cushions that he'd taken from under the table. They didn't have to wait long for most of the smell to dissipate, though the chatter did not, even if the girls were now being relatively discreet about it. Soun was just happy that they weren't having a shouting match. Those were exceedingly rare, but they did erupt from time to time. "Saotome, I think things are well under hand. Shall we finish that game?"

"Indeed, Tendou. We can finally concentrate, and see the pieces at that," Genma concurred, taking off his glasses to dab at his reddened eyes. The two returned to the game of shogi that they'd started that morning before Ranma had gone on his whirlwind tour of Nerima.

The conversation that the sisters were carrying had since taken a decidedly different turn along the way, far from food, fans, and onions in the rice steamer. "Why does he stay like that, Kasumi? His own father even said that he knows what's been going on once he changes. I mean, why not stay a girl all the time. At least he'd be human," Akane finished washing her hands, waving the towel to make a point.

"Akane! That's a horrible thing to say. But, I don't really know, and it's not fair of either of us to guess. You'd have to ask Ranma for an answer to that."

"Ask him? What good's that going to do? He'll just stare at me, or walk off. It's only been a day, and I know that much," the younger girl folded her arms.

"You know what I meant. You'll have to wait until he changes. Mr. Saotome told us that it happens on and off again, maybe even more than once a day. I think with certain matters, you'll have plenty of time to talk to Ranma, one way or the other," Kasumi stirred the pot of impromptu leek soup. She'd been able to salvage most of what Akane had already begun. It bothered her to waste food, and her sister had to learn to cook, if only for herself.

"I could just, you know, accidentally spill a cup of water on him," Akane said under her breath.

"Which wouldn't be very nice, would it. Let's leave our guests to themselves. Father hasn't been doing well lately, and this is the first time he's taken an active interest in things other than the news. He quit the neighborhood watch last month remember. It's doing him good to have his old friend around."

"I know, I know. I was just joking anyway, 'kas."

Kasumi raised a brow at the contrite expression Akane was sporting. Her little sister hadn't been joking, and they both knew it. "Set out the bowls, the soup's about done."

Dinner was unexpectedly smooth, though Kasumi had to seat herself between Akane and Ranma, in case the former reneged on her earlier words. Once Soun was assured that both daughters had prepared the food, he gave it a try, while pretending like nothing had been wrong. Genma didn't know enough to care otherwise, and Ranma just picked at his bowl, which smelled too much like onion for his taste. Eventually his hunger got the better of him, and he dug in.

A week went by, and small routines quickly began to develop. Despite Akane's earlier sentiments, she had yet to try anything to force the change in Ranma. As far as the curse went, the only time he became a girl was during the scant few moments when he washed off before getting into the furo. After

Kasumi found out just how much her guest hated bathing, she made sure that he understood that everyone else took a bath each day, and he was expected to as well.

Though, the first time, once she'd heard Akane's story of how Ranma had just been standing there, for what had to have been more than thirty minutes, Kasumi asked Genma if he usually accompanied his son. Genma informed her that there was less opportunity to bathe while on the road, and yes, the times when the two of them had gone into town, they more or less bathed together. After the curse, it was much harder though, and the option of going to a bathhouse had been ruled out. A man could take his son, but it wasn't acceptable to take a grown daughter. Though a more pertinent reason was that the boy would not stay in his cursed form for extended periods of time. Even Genma didn't know the reason, not for sure, anyway.

So that was the way of it, Genma made sure his son bathed, and otherwise spent all of his time talking, or playing shogi with Soun, with a few drinks downed here and there. Akane left Ranma alone, so long as he kept out from underfoot. The two of them had nothing in common, so long as he remained as he was. After hearing of his lifetime of martial training, she still had a mild desire to see the fruits of that labor, but the docile boy that loafed around her home held no promise to that effect. She kept to her room, or the dojo, and the only time she was together with everyone else was to eat. Hers was a solitary existence, especially with her sister spending most of the day home with Ranma.

Kasumi found that the simple-minded boy was very easy to get along with. He didn't say much, if anything at all, but she found that she could tell what he was thinking just by looking at his expression. Most of the time. He helped her carry things from the store, and since he was a bit taller than she was, at least whenever she could get him to stop slouching, he was able to get things for her from the higher shelves and cabinets. Recently, she'd even had him helping her with things in the kitchen, and small easy chores around the house. Lately, Ranma had taken to polishing the porch and the hallways, where he could run around on all fours, which he seemed to enjoy quite a bit.

Even despite Akane's on again, off again brooding, the house was quiet and comfortable. It was a peace that surely couldn't last forever.

The first Sunday after the arrival of the Saotomes, the Tendou home received another visitor. When Kasumi heard the front bell, she was in the middle of preparing lunch. Akane was still at school, and the fathers were out in the back yard, patching up part of the dojo wall where the younger Tendou had miscalculated during one of her spear kata. With hands covered in flour, she searched around for the hand towel. Ranma had been sitting quietly on the couch, but perked up at the sound of the doorbell.

The boy was up and moving before Kasumi finished drying her hands.

By the time she made it to the front, the door was already hanging wide open. She could see Ranma with his back to her, and another person standing in front of the boy. It looked like they were talking to each other, but she knew that couldn't be the case. She moved to the doorway to see who was paying a visit to the house, when Ranma staggered backwards, falling on his side. For the first time, Kasumi was able to get a clear look at the visitor.

It was a man, maybe around Doctor Toufuu's age. He stood a good head taller than either Kasumi or Ranma, and appeared squarely built under the slacks and cream-colored button up shirt he was wearing. He lowered his leg and it was then that Kasumi realized this man must have kicked Ranma.

"Ranma," she called out, moving to the fallen boy's side. "What are you doing, how could you just hit him like that," she looked at the stranger, with wide accusing eyes.

"The punk owes a whole lot more, and I'm here to see that he pays, with interest," the man's voice came across cold and distant, in a way that set the hair on Kasumi's neck on end. "Now move, this has nothing to do with you. Just him and the old man," he craned his neck, looking into the house.

"He's in there, isn't he? Get him, and I won't have to go in myself," there was no sympathy in the tall man's voice.

When Kasumi didn't make as if to get up, the stranger frowned. "Saotome, I know you. You and your bastard son! If you get out here now, you might be able to say your goodbye's," he punctuated his words with a blinding fast kick into the boy's chest. Ranma had been trying to get back up, but the harsh blow bowled him right into Kasumi, who cried out.

"This is pathetic. You can't be the kid who took down Hideki. Get up, and fight, damn it." A third kick caught Kasumi's shoulder when she tried to pull the unwitting boy into the house. "Shit, let go," he reached down and wrested her protective grip away.

"Stop hurting him! Father, Mr. Saotome, help," she cried, unable to stop the vicious man from lifting Ranma, and bodily tossing him off the front step. The boy landed in a heap on the grass, barely moving. "He's not even fighting back, you're going to kill him!"

"That's the plan."

Holding her numb arm, the brunette swayed on her knees, willing herself to stand. She had to protect Ranma as long as she could. She looked quickly around for anything that she could use as a weapon, but found nothing. For once, the front porch was too clean. Instead, Kasumi tried to jump on his back. "Leave him alone," she managed to wrap her good arm around his neck, though she could feel her grip was tenuous. It didn't take long for him to dislodge the sudden weight.

Almost as soon as Kasumi hit the ground, a white blur slammed bodily into the vindictive stranger. Arms with a deceptive strength encircled the girl, and a wary Soun who had his eyes fixed upon Genma and the unknown man gingerly picked her up.

"Are you hurt?"

There was a faint tremor under her father's words, enough that Kasumi knew he was on the verge of tears, or anger. It was getting harder and harder to delineate his moods, and now was not the time for a nervous breakdown. "I'm, alright father. Ranma's the one that needs help right now. That man wouldn't stop kicking him, even after Ranma fell," she felt Soun nod.

"Genma and I will handle this. Go inside and call Doctor Toufuu," Soun put his daughter down, and turned away. He knew she'd probably been slightly hurt, but he did his best to ignore it. She was a grown woman, something he'd accepted long ago, and she could handle herself if it came down to it. The fact of the matter was that a stranger was threatening his home, and he would do use everything he had to prevent any more tragedy. There was more than enough hanging over his head as it was. Soun wanted answers from this man who had imposed upon his family, but from the look of things, he would have to wait until the situation was resolved, one way or the other.

After the surprise attack, Genma thought he'd surely have the upper hand, but his opponent was faster than even the portly martial artist had anticipated. Packed an assortment of powerful kicks too, he began to realize as more blows slipped through his guard. While the older man could normally hold his own, it had been quite some time since his last real fight. He dare not spar with his son, not after the last incident, so was out of practice against a live opponent. However, a life on the road did inure a man to certain things, so what was a little bit of pain in comparison?

Just over a minute later, both men were breathing hard and the brutal pace was beginning to flag. Genma was certain he'd be feeling this fight in the morning. Most of the kicks that had landed were to his right side, and it felt like half of his ribs were bruised which in turn limited his breathing. But, quite a few of his own strikes had wormed through the tight blocks of the tall man. From the marks on the man's neck, Genma had almost succeeded in ending the fight for good. He just had to keep pressing forward. "Don't move!" The command echoed loudly through the yard, but went unheeded.

The tall man skipped to the side, "I don't think so Saotome. You really expect tricks like that to work?"

But, Genma was unfazed. Nothing in Musabetsu Kakuto Ryu failed, it simply became part of another technique, and thus the heavy man used the latent energy from his rooted stance to launch an intercept. He caught the tall man with a sweeping forearm to the chest, nearly bowling him over. What happened then, Genma wasn't quite sure, his outstretched arm was grabbed and the next thing he knew he was staring up at the clouds, laid flat on his back. The azure blue was blanketed by a descending shadow as a pair of knees smashed into the downed man with terrible accuracy.

It had happened so fast that Soun wasn't able to intervene. He watched in mounting horror, as Genma was effectively taken out of the fight. "Saotome!"

"Stay out of this old man. My business is with these two," the tall man spoke as he walked toward where Ranma was, not a little unsteadily. Sometime during the fight, the boy had gotten up and stood by Soun to watch his father. "Kid, it's your turn."

"The collar Tendo," a weak voice rasped. "My boy's collar," Genma managed to wheeze out between coughs. There was blood in his spittle.

Soun didn't immediately make the connection; though he remembered the tale his friend had shared that first night a week back. His eyes went to the catch on the plain black collar around Ranma's neck. Genma had warned him of the consequences if that collar were ever to be removed. Dare he risk it?

Kasumi's face rose up in his mind's eye, she was hurt. His little girl was crying. "Kasumi! Spirits, forgive this weak father," Soun lamented as his fingers closed around the catch. The black collar dropped to the ground, a mere shadow in the grass.

There was no separation from the moment the collar came off and the attack. Soun blinked and the boy was gone from his side, appearing next to the stranger in the same span of breath. To say he was startled would be a gross understatement, for the speed at which the young Saotome moved it was inhuman.

The tall man had almost no warning, nor time to bring up his hands in defense before the boy was on top of him. He saw the first fist racing toward his head, but not the elbows that followed it. He made an attempt to sidestep and find an opening, but his feint was ignored. Pain blossomed in his guts as a knee dug into him, cutting his stance, and driving most of the air from his lungs. Striking blindly, he managed to push the boy back, but the respite was fractions of a second.

Ranma swayed to the left, and swung back around with his right hand grasping for the man's throat, and the other bursting through the feeble guard to dig into the floating ribs. His first strike was rebuffed, but when his right arm swung wide, he kicked upward with one leg shooting vertically up against his chest. His heel caught the man just under the chin, snapping his head back. Ranma's fingers shot forward into that space, and locked onto the throat sure as any vise.

At that point, Soun understood what his action truly meant. This wasn't a fight. It was an execution, and his was the hand that had flipped the switch. It was true, the whole story Saotome had related to him. "Genma, my friend, what have you done," the words whispered pale into the wind. "What have I done?"

The boy followed his gurgling target to the ground, unrelenting the hold he had on the man's throat. Any time there was excessive motion from the body beneath him, he struck with his free hand, to the temple, ribs, and joints till there was no more than a mild twitch. The face under him slowly turned a sick shade, and soon there was little left in the wild eyes that stared up into his own. An all too familiar click came from behind.

Genma managed to slip the collar back around his son's neck before anything irrevocable was done. The boy slumped, completely releasing his hold on the now unconscious man. "Enough boy, it's over. Go back inside," the older man was haggard, holding a hand to his bruised ribs. He couldn't rest though, not yet. "Tendou, this man is going to need a doctor. I stopped Ranma in time, but," the rest went unspoken, as the two men glanced at each other, then down at the battered form splayed on the grass.

In the house, Kasumi put down the phone; the doctor was on his way. She'd heard the fighting, but had been too busy trying to get her point across to Toufuu. She thought of the man dearly, since he'd helped so much with the family growing up, especially after last Christmas. However endearing his behavior toward her was, it certainly did not help in moments like this. While she didn't share Toufuu's feelings, she could respect them. And she did, most of the time. But, the man could be so inconveniently obtuse. That reminded her of Ranma for some reason.

Which may have been why she nearly jumped when she turned around and found the boy in question standing almost right behind her. She noticed several splotches of blood on his shirt and face. "Ranma, oh, you're always too quiet. Let me see what that man did to you," try as she might, she couldn't find anywhere that was cut and bleeding. Under his shirt, he sported at least three distinct bruises that were already turning nasty colors. Nothing felt broken, but Doctor Toufuu would be a far better judge of that than she. Letting his shirt back down, it didn't occur to her to be embarrassed for feeling him up, Ranma was injured after all. "Where are father, and Mr. Saotome?"

When the doctor arrived, Kasumi excused herself. She'd related the situation to him over the phone, and her father would handle the rest. Toufuu could handle himself for short periods of time around her, but it wasn't in anyone's best interest if the doctor's thoughts dwelled overlong on the Tendou girl.

Soun and Genma had brought the beaten man into the guest room, and laid him out with no small care. The portly martial artist professed no familiarity with the stranger, and from his exploits, Soun didn't doubt that for a minute. Genma had a long tab, and it would likely follow him to the grave, if not beyond. They were going to have to play this off as a formal challenge, since anything else would be considered above and beyond.

After Doctor Toufuu had tended to the more serious injuries of the stranger, he gave Genma a salve, and asked after Ranma. "K-Kasumi, mentioned your son, was also involved in this?"

Genma nodded, "He was, but the boy's fine. Nothing a night's sleep won't cure. Which is more than I can say for myself," he managed a weak chuckle. "I stepped in before things got out of hand. This fellow issued a challenge to the Saotome Ryu, and as heir, Ranma accepted accordingly. The match started out fine enough, but this fellow began aiming for joints and vital areas. My son reacted to disable him, but they ended up in a clinch. From there on, it was hard to intervene as you can imagine."

"I, see," Toufuu didn't look quite convinced, but let it go for the moment. He gestured to the comatose man, "Aside from three broken ribs, minor internal bleeding, and a chipped tooth, the rest of the damage is superficial. He may have a mild concussion," the doctor adjusted his glasses. "I've left a balm for the bruising and swelling, but I'll need to go back to my office to get the ingredients for his internal problems. I'd say a few days rest would set most of it back on track. I'd like to check up on him again tonight, just to make sure the blow to his head didn't cause lasting damage."

Soun nodded assent, and followed the doctor to the door. "We'll watch over him, and call you if he wakes up. I appreciate the help once again, Doctor Toufuu." He returned to the guest room once Toufuu was gone. "Why did you keep him from seeing Ranma? Kasumi told me he'd been beaten."

"I looked at the boy myself, he's fine, just a few bruises. Besides, I don't need some doctor telling me what I already know about Ranma's condition. What if word of the curse got out? I have to keep the boy's best interests in mind, Tendo."

"I hadn't thought of it quite like that, my friend."

"You've only known the boy a short while, I'm sure you'll see that he's fine just the way he is," Genma rose, then grimaced. "Up for a drink, Tendo? I know I could use one after all of this."

Kasumi found Ranma sitting by himself at the top of the stairs. That alone struck her as a bit odd, since normally the boy kept to the first floor. She didn't know why, but it might have had a little to do with her sister. Akane had made it clear how she felt about the boy, even if Kasumi thought the girl was being too stubborn about it. "Is everything all right," she asked as she sat down next to Ranma.

Ranma was slumped over, staring out over his knees. "Don't know."

It was hard for her to get even an inkling of what was floating around in his thoughts, but she tried, "Are you hurting? We have medici-."

"No," the curt response cut into Kasumi's words. "Broken. I broke him." Ranma drooped even further.

That only confused the brown-haired girl even more. When Ranma didn't say anything else, she prodded again, and tried to make sense of it, "What do you mean Ranma? Something today?" The only thing she could think of was that man who was asleep in downstairs. But, she was certain Mr. Saotome had subdued him. So, what was Ranma talking about then?

"Yes," his reply was so terse Kasumi almost missed it.

She wanted to be sure, even if it was almost pure conjecture on her part. She often had to fill in the gaps when talking to Ranma. "The man who hit you, you broke him?"

"Yes."

"Broke him how?"

Ranma held his hands out to Kasumi for a moment, then let them drop. It took a little while, but Kasumi thought she understood. He'd fought back once she'd gone inside. But, his father was injured too. What had really happened out there? She'd missed something important, important enough that Ranma was affected by it. Then again, she'd seen the damaged done to the sleeping man, and it was substantial. She'd have a talk with her father, after this that was certain.

What puzzled her still, was the fact that Ranma had shown no sign of retaliation when he was being kicked. What would prompt such a change? She looked over at him, trying to work it out in her head. Her eyes fell on the one thing that was out of place. Rather, the one thing that was unfailingly always there, the black collar around Ranma's neck.

Her thoughts turned back to the time Akane had tried to touch that collar, and the strong reaction from Ranma. What was so special about the bit of leather and metal that Ranma would be so adverse to someone else getting close to it. She'd thought all along that it was sentimental, but after spending her days with the boy, she realized how wrong that was. Not that he wasn't capable of being thoughtful and caring, but that he hadn't ever really displayed a deep attachment to anything as far as she'd seen. He didn't have a favorite food, place in the house, or anything for that matter. Every day had been like a fresh day for Ranma.

Kasumi found herself reaching out for the thin line of the collar.

"Kasumi, the doctor's on his way," Soun's voice carried up from the hallway. Startled, she blinked and patted Ranma on the shoulder.

"Don't go anywhere, I'll be back in a few minutes. I need to go help downstairs."

Ranma watched her leave, and then closed his eyes. There was still pain in his side, but he ignored it. Such feelings were common, and never lasted too long. He was hungry though, but the Kasumi was busy with other things. He would sit, and wait here where it was quiet.

Downstairs, Kasumi checked in on the mystery man in their guest room. Despite the tailored clothes, they hadn't found anything that would identify him, no wallet, no business card, nothing. Mr. Saotome had done the searching, probably since the man had been after him, and Ranma. Toufuu had also asked after the man's identity, but when no one was able to figure it out, he relented. It would have to wait until their impromptu guest woke up. For now, he was out cold, but most of the color had returned to his face. Kasumi left when the front bell rang. It would likely be the doctor.

Toufuu only stayed long enough check in on the patient, and to deliver the internal medicine to Kasumi, along with written instructions. He left shortly, satisfied that there was no sign of permanent damage, and that the mild concussion was nothing more.

Once the doctor was gone, Kasumi went to go speak with the fathers. However, she ended up leaving them be, since they'd apparently gone through a whole bottle of sake and were passed out on the back porch. It would be useless to bother them. In the meantime, she decided instead to start dinner, after she found out how Ranma was doing. However, even those intentions were interrupted when Akane came through the front door in a huff.

"I'm home," Akane's tone was tighter than usual. She lightened up a bit once she saw Kasumi by the stairs. "Kas, you won't believe what this jerk at school did today," she put her bag down by her shoes before walking over to her sister. "One of the upperclassmen told me he wanted to date with me," she made a face.

"You don't sound happy about it," the older girl pried.

"Of course I'm not happy about it. The guy's too, everything. I don't know. He's the captain of the kendo club, and I hear he's actually pretty good, but he thinks just because of that, he's better than everyone else. It doesn't help that his family is pretty rich."

"My, I take it that you don't like him very much then."

"He's not that bad, I guess. It's more the way he confessed to me. He did it in front of the whole school, recited bad poetry, and gave me an arm full of flowers. It was embarrassing."

"I see. What did you say to him after that?"

Akane crinkled her nose, "I turned him down of course." She stood, holding the railing at the bottom of the stairs, "But I don't think he got the hint. He just smiled and told me 'fear not, we'll surely meet again,' at least, that's what I think he said. He must've watched one too many episodes of Tora-san."

Kasumi watched Akane brush past Ranma on her way to her room. Unsurprisingly, neither acknowledged the other.

"Don't be too long, Akane. I'm starting dinner soon," Kasumi thought for a moment before adding, "Oh, there's a, well, a guest of sorts, sleeping in the Saotome's room. It'd be best to stay out of there until we can send him on his way."

Akane poked her head out of her room then thought better of it. "Okay, whatever you say, Kas. I don't even want to know," she slid the door shut, and left well enough alone. There was too much to deal with, without adding more unwanted problems.

That left Kasumi to deal with Ranma, and whatever was bothering the boy.

Shading her eyes from the light streaming in through the kitchen blinds, Kasumi went about cleaning up from breakfast. During the night, their erstwhile guest had taken his leave without warning, and privately, she was glad. Her shoulder still hurt where his shoe had dug in, and the area was yellowed with bruise. Even so, now that the man was out of her house, she found it that much easier to relax and carry on. Last night's dinner had been, at best, uncomfortable.

While she'd planned on finishing her conversation with Ranma, time had not really permitted it. Not when she'd been left to tend two hung-over men, and a stressed sister. It felt like lately, she was living someone else's life. Or rather, hers had been put on hold. It had, she knew, for some years now.

It probably always would be, unless her father started taking care of himself, however unlikely that might be. As for her sister, Akane seemed apt to move out as soon as she finished with school. But, that wasn't important quite yet.

And then, there was the boy who'd show up without warning, burdened with so many of his own problems. Kasumi both envied his easy disposition, and felt a sort of pity toward the limits imposed by his child-like mind. But, there was a difference in the contrite Ranma of last night, and the aloof boy that had first shown up on the Tendo doorstep. She was sure of it. Kasumi couldn't pinpoint exactly what had changed, just that he didn't act quite so, distant. It certainly didn't stem from a fear of people; that much had been clear from the start. Ranma'd been amiable enough toward both herself, and even Akane, that first afternoon.

Moreover, the past week had proved to her the boy's attitude, both when they were out around Nerima, and when it was just the two of them in the house during the day. There was of course, the fathers, but it was getting harder and harder to regard the two men as more than moving furniture for all they did. No, Ranma did his part when and if he could. He was quiet, timid, and obedient. Three things that was ideal, in a pet perhaps. Or a housewife, she thought, not without an inkling of self-depreciation. Kasumi might as well have been describing herself, and when she realized it, she found that she was bothered.

Fading footsteps, and the front door clicking shut was all the warning Kasumi had before her sibling left for school. Not that it was anything so unusual, but Akane had also been quiet at breakfast. She'd gone straight to her room after eating last night as well, though Kasumi had though the two of them would talk a little more about a few things, namely the boy who'd approached Akane. At the time, Kasumi had attributed her sister's mood to either that, or perhaps not wanting to be downstairs with a stranger in the house. If it was the latter, she understood, and the former, she could empathize with.

Ranma's attitude, and the not-quite-sober fathers had only amplified Akane's sour mood. That had been last night, though anyone comparing that to the mood of the morning would have found a near match. Waking up to find the bothersome man gone, had improved things only marginally, and most of that was merely in favor of Kasumi's perception. All she knew was that she felt better. Akane hadn't seen the man, so either didn't care, or didn't bother. Genma and her father were both too hung-over to think much of anything other than their own misfortunes, and Ranma, his expression was no different from the night before.

Kasumi finished putting all the dishes away, and dried her hands. A quick glance at the clock showed she'd been lost in thought for nearly ten minutes. That's about when she noticed something out of place on the counter. Akane's lunch was sitting there, still waiting to be taken.

Looking over her shoulder every so often to make sure the sullen boy was still following along, Kasumi made her way down the sidewalk toward Furinkan. She'd almost decided to just let Akane find something to eat in the lunchroom, but she didn't want to leave it at that, not when spending money was so tight. She sighed, Ranma continued moping, and the houses passed by in a tired blur.

It could be taken that Ranma wasn't having a good day. Not that he distinguished it as such, since in his mind, there was little difference between one day and the next. But, somewhere deep down, in places that only his curse brought to the surface, he was troubled, and worried. He felt bad, in a way that was eating at his subconscious and bleeding over into his waking existence. It didn't help that the Kasumi wasn't happy, which only added to the constricting tightness in his chest.

He knew it had something to do with the man who'd attacked him. Exactly how, Ranma wasn't capable of understanding. Nothing had happened then, that hadn't happened before. With Genma, there had been plenty of similar occurrences, and Ranma had acted according to what was expected. So what then, was different this last time? The boy frowned and followed after Kasumi, the rings on his collar keeping time to the light pad of his feet.

Overhead, a lone crow took flight from its perch atop a light post.

Kasumi was at a bit of a loss. They'd come all the way to the school, only to find that the gate was closed. She'd completely forgotten about this little facet of school life. Which is probably why she stood there, staring at the bars like they were the strangest things in the world, her sister's parcel nestled safely in one arm. "It looks like we're stuck out here, Ranma."

Ranma, too, looked at the gate, then at the building beyond, and finally back to Kasumi. He didn't know why they'd come here, though he recognized it, this was the high place. He pressed his face to the gate and raised his eyes to Furinkan's roof. He remembered looking down on everything from there, and the feeling that faintly lingered. The Kasumi didn't sound like the Kasumi he was used to being around, and Ranma himself felt sad; maybe that could be fixed.

Stomach lurching was about the only way the eldest daughter of Soun Tendo could describe the following seconds as her charge suddenly scooped her up and bounded from the ground, to the top of the wall and over the school gate. The whole of it was so sudden that she almost dropped the box she was holding; instead she'd reflexively clutched it to her bosom. Words of admonishment were scarcely on her lips when the two of them were off again.

She wasn't sure what Ranma was up to, all she knew was that the boy was running what felt like full tilt right at the wall to the side of the front entrance to the school. What was he thinking? "Ranma, we need to go inside, not," she shut her eyes as she felt the two of them leave the ground. There was a momentary pause, and she risked a peek, "up the side?" Kasumi was dumbfounded that Ranma was not only able to leap from window to window, but to do it while carrying her. Moreover, he apparently only paused long enough to gauge the next interval before leaping again. The scope of his actions barely made it through her awe when they reached the top. All told, the trip had taken less than a minute, at most. Kasumi had trouble finding her feet when Ranma finally released her.

For the moment, Kasumi was at a loss. Torn between a sense of bewilderment, and uncertainty, it was hard to find words for what she felt. She wasn't upset at the boy, not really. She wasn't angry, nor sad, a little worried maybe, but nothing quite so concrete that she felt able to name it. It was hard, and Ranma wasn't helping, not in a way that she could make sense of.

"Why are we up here, Ranma? You can't just do things like that, not without warning," it felt like talking to a wall for all the reaction she was getting from the boy. He had his back to her and was leaning on the rail, looking out at something only he could see. "Ranma," she queried when he didn't respond. "Ranma I'm ta-,"

"Look," it was more of an entreaty than a statement from the boy who would be a dog.

Despite her mood, Kasumi did her best to see what it was that he'd come up here for. "I'm afraid I don't see anything out there Ranma."

"Look at that," he spoke again, not taking his eyes off the sight of the homes sprawled out before him.

"Can you tell me what it is I'm looking for?"

"That," he said as if it were the single most obvious thing. He turned his head toward her when it became apparent that she wasn't seeing what he saw out there. She didn't see the town, the houses, the lives played out before her. The picture that hundreds of lives had painted in as many years. Ranma didn't quite think of it in those terms, not in his present state of mind. But, it was something like that for him, a sense of quietude, subtle movement, and life all rolled into one. It was an echo of what he'd found, travelling through the countryside with Genma. Surely, Kasumi could see it as well. "That," he repeated, resting his arms on the railing.

They stood up there for a long time, one just being, and the other trying to come to terms with what that meant.


	3. Part 3

Ranma and Co. is Copyright Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan, Inc. 1993

Ranma 1/2 is a trademark of Viz Communications, Inc.

A Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction/Danny the Dog by S³

Circle that Binds – part 3

Akane felt her concentration waning as the lecture wore on and on. Normally she was able to pay attention to Mrs. Kimura, at least for the first two morning classes, but today she just wasn't in the mood. Suppressing a sigh, the youngest Tendou glanced down at her notes to find that she'd inadvertently been doodling silly little shapes in the margins of the paper. Some of the shapes bore an uncanny resemblance to a bunch of flowers, roses in particular, which nearly prompted another sigh. This was exactly what she _didn't_ need right now with a test coming up at the end of the week.

"'kane. Hey, Akane," a sudden whisper came from her immediate left. That would be Yuka.

Akane flipped to a blank page in the notebook, conscious of drawing attention to her woolgathering. "What?" she stage whispered, not risking to turn her head, since the two of them were more toward the middle of the class than last year, when the two of them, including Sayuri, had been seated at the back.

"Akane, I think I saw your sister."

"So? It's not like she doesn't have a life you know." Akane couldn't believe her friend sometimes. Yuka always picked the wrong time to bring up whatever had been on her mind. Of course, the air-headedness might be hereditary, as Yuka's mom was a bit of a scatterbrain…always giggling over the daytime dramas whenever Akane was visiting. The woman used to try and convert Akane into watching them with her, but that had stopped working after the girls got out of middle school.

"No, that's not what I meant. I just saw her, right now," Yuka whispered back rather fiercely.

"Huh? Why would Kas' come here? Is she still out in the courtyard?"

"I don't think so, she um, went right past us," she pointed out the window for good measure.

"Pfft," Akane scoffed, shaking her head. "Yuka, you do know what floor were on. She couldn't have just walked past the classroom."

Yuka rolled her eyes. "I'm not an idiot Akane, this is the third floor. No, someone was carrying her. I think it was a guy with crazy hair," Yuka mussed her bangs and hair around to illustrate her point.

"Akane unconsciously clenched her jaw in thought. _Crazy hair… Carrying Kasumi. Crazy…_ "Ranma." Akane said the name like an epithet. She would have to get to the bottom of this. What could possibly be going on with those two? Akane suddenly stood up with her hand raised.

"Yes, Ms. Tendou?" The teacher asked, slightly irritated at being interrupted mid-sentence.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Kimura; I need to go to the bathroom." Akane said with almost the same tone of voice her teacher had directed at her, before wincing slightly when she realized how it must sound.

"Very well, but do be quick about it. Class time is almost over."

"Yes, Mrs. Kimura." Akane nodded and walked out of the classroom, picking up the pace to a quick jog only once she'd slid the door closed behind her. Glancing at her watch, she decided she had about five minutes to find her those two and figure out what was going on before she had to be back in class.

It only took about a minute of that time to locate the duo. Like Yuka had thought, Akane found her sister, along with Ranma, on the roof, by the edge, leaning on the railings. And they were standing a little too close to each other for her peace of mind.

"Ahem," Akane cleared her throat once she was within hearing range, not wanting to accidentally startle her sister when she was in such a precarious position. Nevertheless, the taller girl jumped slightly in place, though Ranma either didn't notice, or didn't care. Akane bet it was the latter, especially after having been around the boy for a decent length of time. Even if she thought he was a few yen short of the correct change, she had to admit he was very observant, especially when it came to anything regarding her sister, much to Akane's chagrin.

"Oh, Akane, you surprised me. What are you doing up here?" Kasumi asked in that certain way of hers that let Akane know she wasn't pleased.

"Me? I was in the middle of class when I hear that you two are running all over school, causing a scene." It wasn't exactly true, but Akane always felt at odds whenever her she felt like the older girl was chiding her. Privately, sometimes Akane felt her sister had taken their mother's role a little too far. And it had only gotten worse after…

"Causing a scene? Oh my no. I just came to bring you your lunch since you forgot it this morning." Kasumi held up the cloth bundle in question as if she were remarking on the time of day. "But I'd forgotten that the front gate would be locked, so Ranma helped me out."

"And that's why you're on the roof now." Akane put her hands on her hips in frank disbelief.

"Yes, that's why…Ah,no. I mean, well, Ranma wanted to show me the view and so…," Kasumi made a little gesture with her free hand, waving at the city beyond the rail.

"Uh, I don't…whatever, just forget it." Akane walked over, reaching out for the food. "Thanks, I didn't even realize I'd left it on the counter. I would've been pretty mad once it got to lunch time." She accepted the bundle from her sister. Ranma had turned to regard her sometime during the conversation, but already she could feel his attention wandering. The boy just didn't seem to have much regard for her that was for certain. It was a mutual feeling, she supposed. "Look, I better get back to class, I just wanted to make sure nothing weird was going on with you," Akane gave Ranma an undecipherable stare. "Just be on the lookout for any faculty when you leave. All the teachers have been pretty strict lately, when it comes to discipline for some reason. I heard the principal might be coming back soon, but that's probably just a rumor."

"Principal Kuno? I don't really care for that man." Kasumi said more to herself than anything. "But, we'll be careful Akane, I promise. Now hurry back or you'll be the one that gets into trouble."

Akane nodded and made her way back to class carrying her lunch. Hopefully Mrs. Kimura wouldn't notice the bundle, or she might start asking questions, or worse, refuse to let Akane go to the bathroom during the middle of class next time she asked. She could already tell it was going to be a long day, especially since Yuka would want to hear an explanation. A long day indeed.

Once Akane had gone, Kasumi turned to her companion. "Hmm, so how _do_ we get back down?"

Ranma tilted his head in what Kasumi had come to know as his 'thinking' pose. Then he smiled and scooped her up in his arms before she could get a word in edgewise.

Kasumi bit her lip; he wasn't planning on going back down the same way, was he?

Kasumi's scream of surprise changed to laughter, eventually fading off into the bright blue sky.

Elsewhere in Nerima, a tall thin shadow moved haggardly into an alleyway a block or two from the shopping center, making its way toward the side door of a clothing outlet that had evidently gone out of business some time ago. The shadow resolved into the slacks and rumpled shirt of the fighter who had vacated the Tendou home the day before.

Moving into the building, the man made his way into what had once been a stock room, setting down a convenience store bag at the base of a stack of empty crates where a larger man was apparently resting. The seated man was taller and looked somewhat older than his counterpart. The two men also bore more than a passing resemblance to one another, despite what had to be a five year gap in age.

"Hideki," the younger began almost reverently. "We can't keep this up for too much longer." He eyed the back he'd brought in. "Cash is tight enough as it is, and we're stuck hiding out in a dump like this." He flexed his hand and gingerly probed at his bruised ribs. "Damn, if that Saotome kid doesn't pack a punch. I had the old man dead to rights, but that kid is something else. So fucking fast." He shook his head in disbelief even after 'seeing' first hand.

A grunt in agreement was all the response he got for his musing.

Kenichirou looked up at his brother's face, still swathed in gauze wrappings. That kid had gone ape shit on his brother, and even after two years of extensive surgery to Hideki's jaw and throat, the doctors all said it was unlikely that the man would ever be able to talk normally again.

Two damn years of pain and suffering, all 'cuz of some freak kid and his old man they'd bumped into during a street run, right when Hideki had been about to take over the rest of the Speed Tribes in the Kanto area. If it had been another gang, the defeat might have gone over differently, but after the Saotome kid took down Hideki, he'd lost pretty much all of his street cred.

Hideki mumbled again and Kenichirou shook his head. "Nah, don't worry, I'm not that stupid. I'll wait for the others to show this time. When the guys get here, it'll be more than enough to settle the score."

Hideki reached for the bag and pulled out two cans of beer, tossing one to Ken, muttering low.

Ken shook his head, "We've got plenty of time, the old man and the kid looked all settled in at the Tendou place. They aren't going anywhere."

The other man popped the tab on his beer and grinned beneath the fresh bandages on his face. Even with the time in the hospital, he'd not been idle, and two years was plenty of time to train. The Saotome's would find out the hard way, the meaning of payback.

Ranma sneezed, shook his head and resumed his daily staring match with the stream of water pouring down from the showerhead. The water continued to spray across the tile floor tattoo a mocking beat on the plastic stool just beneath it. Somehow the boy had come to hate that sound just as much as he disliked the freezing water that preceded it.

There was a knock on the door to the bathroom. "Ranma? I can still hear the water running…," it was the Kasumi. Lately, she'd been making a habit of reminding him that bath's weren't a matter of choice.

Sighing, the dog minded boy trudged toward the stool as slowly as dared, hoping maybe she'd gone and he could just wait it out.

"Ranma, Akane wants to use the bathroom too, so please wash up."

He hung his head and closed his eyes as he came into contact with the cold spray.

As usual the change was nearly instantaneous, his shivering form seemed to waver for half a second and fold 'just so' reducing his height by nearly a foot and the cascading water appeared to spread a rich vermillion through his previously jet black hair. Complementing the loss in height, his hips flared out along with a dramatic increase of fat over his pectoral muscles; all in all removing any doubt as to the gender of the boy now turned girl should one care to physically check.

Of course, would that have been the whole of it, Saotome Ranma might have had less reserve in the daily ritual of cleansing the body. But, along with the obvious change, the true horror of the cursed springs of Jusenkyou once more revealed themselves to one young woman.

And the name given to that curse was Awareness. The psychological buffer forged in the pit of cats that fateful day was erased as if it were so much wet tissue.

A shaking hand reached out to turn off the shower tap, even as tears fell, indistinguishable from the drops of water on her skin. Wearily, Ranma dragged her feet over to the tub and pulled herself over the side, sinking in the surprisingly tepid water until only her face above her lips was visible. Kasumi must not have had the chance to change out the bath water that morning, but that thought was pushed away. As it was, the beating she'd given the lanky stranger yesterday was fresh on her mind, the senselessness of it all cut deep, but along with that, was the knowledge that Kasumi had been injured just prior by the selfsame man, which lessened the self-imposed misery just a bit.

Of course, along with the bad, there was also a different sense, one that had never really had the chance to flourish on the road with her father. There was something new that had been growing in her heart during all the time she'd been spending with the Tendou girl. It was altogether strange and puzzling, this light and heady feeling that had begun to crowd her chest.

The events of the last week played through her mind as she soaked, and most prominent were the times with Kasumi, at the store, in the kitchen, around the house, and recently on the local school grounds. But, what to make of it all, she was at a complete loss. It wasn't something she could discuss with her father, even if she believed herself capable of such a thing. It just wasn't done, ever. The elder Saotome had seldom spoken to her outside of training instructions, before the 'incident,' and after he'd attempted to rectify that, but Ranma had come to learn that the so called wisdom of her father was shallow at best, even if the old man had good intentions at heart.

There was another knock at the door, much louder this time. "Hey, you almost done in there?" Definitely Akane's voice.

Though she was sure the cranky girl didn't much care for her, Ranma decided she was infinitely better than her old man. And somehow, the thought of talking with Kasumi set her stomach at odds with itself. Besides, Akane had been a little more congenial toward Ranma of late, and hadn't really batted an eye her way that afternoon on the school roof.

Making her decision, Ranma did something she hadn't done in a very long time in this body at any rate, she spoke, "Y-yeah. I'm all done." The words grated in her throat at first, the higher register of her voice sounding odd even to her own ears.

Naturally, the selfsame strangeness of the voice beyond the door piqued the curiosity of the youngest Tendou, who assumed that meant Ranma was completely finished and she could go in. Sliding open the door, Akane wasn't quite sure what to make of it when she found the redhead staring at her from within the bathwater. Akane took an involuntary step back, clutching her towel to her chest. It wasn't the first time she'd laid eyes on her houseguest's other side, and as such she didn't immediately turn on her heel and bolt.

"You said you were done," Akane's voice held a small amount of accusation in it as she took another step back.

"Wait…I…I wanted to talk. Just a bit."

That got Akane's full attention if nothing else. "W-what?" Akane spit out as her brow furrowed in mild confusion. "Why would you want to talk to me?" Akane almost regretted her words even as they left her mouth, especially as the redhead's face drooped almost imperceptibly. "I mean, why not Kasumi, since you two seem to be getting along so well."

"That's why."

The comment didn't register with Akane. "Huh? What kind of reason is that?"

"I mean, because it's about Kasumi, mostly."

"Oh, I see." Akane considered, even if she still wasn't quite sure what the redhead wanted to talk about.

"Please? Just a few minutes?"

Akane finally acquiesced when it looked as if the other girl was about to start shrinking in on herself.

"Ah, fine, whatever. But, no peeking until I get into the bath, fair enough?" Akane disrobed and made her way over to the stool to wash up. The other girl might be a dog brain most of the time, but the last thing Akane wanted was someone ogling her. Some of the boys at school did that when they didn't think she was paying attention, and she'd had to straighten them out afterward. Besides, Ranma usually kept out of her way the few times that they crossed paths during the evenings at home, and personally, it was hard to think of him as anything more than a stray dog her sister had picked up. This girl in front of her had to be someone else, even if she'd seen the so called curse once, that didn't mean she completely believed in it. Magic wasn't real. There had to be a trick of some kind. Right? Akane filled the bucket from the tap and upended it overherself. "So, what can't you talk to my sister about?"

Ranma sighed, wondering just how to begin. Maybe if she described the crushing feeling in her chest… as she spoke Akane's eyes widened, and soon the Tendou girl was outright laughing, almost to the point of choking on water.

Ranma frowned, feeling even less sure of herself, and wondering how what she'd said could ever be found so funny. For her part, she sank back into the cool water again, coming close to regretting her earlier decision.

Akane noticed eventually that the source of her amusement was less than pleased, and tried to control the laughter, but it was just too funny and strange to consider that the redhead was apparently infatuated with her sister. Which meant the dog loved her sister...which in turn was both humorous and maybe a little creepy, but that part didn't bear much consideration at the moment. The innocence coupled with an almost palpable self-loathing in the other girl was all too apparent and frankly wasn't very funny in the least. It spoke volumes of the kind of life the girl had been living on the road with just her father as a guide. Now, that alone was reason enough for Akane to give the other girl a few lessons in life. If such basic societal understanding was absent in the girl, what else had been neglected over the years, Akane shuddered to think.

And so, Akane decided to set the girl straight, in earnest.

It seemed the day would prove to be a lot of firsts for the young Saotome, for following her talk with Akane, she decided to remain in her cursed state if just for a while longer, her mind awhirl with a mixture of implications, old feelings of guilt and a hint of something new, hope. It was hope that spurred her onward, of a better tomorrow and maybe redemption. Her uncursed mind was the one thing that both helped and hindered; the cause of her problems and possibly also the one avenue to salvation.

At least, that's what she'd always believed until now. The placidity that her mental walls had bestowed not only held back the dark tide of guilt and anguish she would otherwise suffer, but had allowed her to grow close to the one person she could feel strongly for in either form. But, she could also see the lie that it represented. While she felt the same toward the other girl in either form, Kasumi Tendou had befriended a shell, a literal guard dog that sheltered the broken mind within. That self-same guardian had also been the source of most of the misery in Ranma's life. Unknowingly so, but in the end, wasn't it all the same?

It was that concept with which Ranma found herself wrestling to come to terms with. She, herself was the very cause of her own misfortunes. But, listening to Akane, who'd been telling her all sorts of things that bore considering, maybe she wouldn't have to feel so alone anymore. Having a friend, even for so short a time, had lifted a bit of the heavy weight she'd held in her heart.

Kasumi had just finished tidying up the living room when there came a horrible blaring of horns from the street outside. It was a recognizable bleat that she'd heard on the news a few times over the past year or so, and at first she doubted herself. But, the raucous din continued, and bright lights started to shine randomly through the front window. The noise grew louder, as did the heavy thrum of motors. She was about to peek through the curtain when an arm settled on her shoulder, guiding her back from the window pane. Kasumi glanced back to find familiar grey eyes staring at her from behind dark red strands of hair, and a face that she couldn't quite place. "Ranma?"

Kasumi was just as surprised when the shorter girl responded.

"I know that sound. It's those bikers; the stupid ones with the flags," the redhead took Kasumi's place by the window and peered through the edge of the curtain. Just past the gate she could see two or three headlights wavering as the vehicles passed back and forth in front of the Tendou's wall. It was well past dusk, but the street lights were on, and the bikers clothing was a dead giveaway as to their identities, even if they hadn't been revving their engines and repeatedly blasting that ridiculous refrain over and over. These probably weren't the same ones, as there were only about five bikes that she could count, far than there had been the first time they'd met.

Naturally, the rest of the household was headed to the living room just after Ranma had made her presence known; an irate Akane led the trio down the stairs. "What the hell is going on out there?"

Soun's expression mirrored his youngest daughter's alarm, though his anger was less tangible. Genma on the other hand appeared more concerned with his own child, rather than the disturbance outside. His son never stayed in that form, ever…well not voluntarily, not since China. Something was going on here, and whatever it was, it obviously more important than a few crazy kids riding down the street.

Riding…Kids…

Genma made a strange noise in his throat, something that sounded suspiciously like a whine. Soun was close enough to catch it and spared his friend a glance. "Saotome, you know what's going on," the question sounded suspiciously like a statement, but who was he to accuse his old training partner.

The portly martial artist schooled his features, "Tendo, I haven't the slightest."

"Ah, well I suppose we better find out then. The neighbors are bound to say something in the morning if this goes on too much longer."

Genma nodded sagely, but otherwise remained unmoving. Akane however held no such compunctions.

"I swear, if they don't shut up and get out of here, someone's going to get hurt," Akane ground out even as she took steps toward the door. "I still have homework to do, and I can't think straight with all that noise." Her hand didn't even make it halfway to the door handle when her wrist was encased in an unyielding grip. "Hey, what do you think you," her words cut off when she caught sight of the almost pitiful look the redhead was giving her. But it only served to incense her more for some reason. "Look, back off, I'm going out there to give those idiots a piece of my mind."

Anything that Ranma may have intended to say was cut off by the sudden reduction of noise beyond the door. There were a few seconds of near quiet as the horns stopped and the engines faded to a faint idle. Then a booming voice cut through the silence, "Saotome, we just want to, talk to ya. I mean, it's not like we're gonna kill ya, so just come out. Don't forget the kid; the boys here got something to say ta him too."

In the house, three pairs of eyes turned as one to focus on a suddenly sweating Saotome Genma. "Saotome, you said you had nothing to do with this?"

"Tendo, I think you're mistaking the situation here. It's entirely possible that this is a coincidence. Saotome isn't exactly an uncommon name, especially in Tokyo."

"Ah, I hadn't thought of that." Soun agreed, reflecting.

"Dad," Akane grumbled with Kasumi seconding her, though not quite so roughly. "It can't be that much of a coincidence if they mentioned a Saotome with a kid." Who did her father's friend think he was fooling anyway?

"Father, what should we do?" Kasumi folded her hands in front of her blouse, looking from her parent to her friend and back.

"Now Tendou, I'm sure we can get this all cleared up without a fuss. It won't be like last time, there's probably not more than ten out there."

Akane noticed Ranma's grip had slackened as she'd taken a step toward the elder Saotome, and she was able to shake off the offending limb. Instead, she went to the window, which the redhead didn't seem to wholly object to, and parted the curtain to get a look at whoever was out there yelling at them. She found herself agreeing with Genma's assessment. Actually, it looked like there were less than ten bikers from what she could judge. More like six tops. "Dad, he's right, I could take them all, they don't look so tough." But then, she hadn't witnessed the way Genma had been manhandled two days previous, and that had been a one on one fight. Not that she'd seen either Saotome actually fight in any case.

As Akane tried to assess the threat the bikers potentially posed, Kasumi took advantage of the clear window to see for herself, and caught her breath. There were two men at the gate, and the taller of which was the man from the other day, the one who'd tossed her aside like a doll when she'd answered the door. Beside him stood a rather short man with bleach blonde hair, wearing a tan trench coat over a grey or white tank top, it was hard to tell with the bars of the gate in the way. The short one appeared to be holding a large cone of some sort in his hand, which he raised to his lips.

"Saotome, do yourself a favor and just come on out. Or, do we have to come in and get ya," the blonde paused for a moment, letting his words sink in. "I mean, I didn't think you were this much of a coward."

Inside, Genma grumbled more audibly this time. He really didn't want to get into another fight so soon. Besides, that's what the boy was for. He hadn't been trained for all those years just to sit around and slack off. Genma looked at his son turned daughter and almost gave up his little plan. The girl was giving him that weepy look that he'd learned to interpret as displeasure over the years. Only, in that cursed body, the look was somehow amplified somewhat. Genma knew full well that despite the near perfection of martial skill, and a lifetime on the road, his child didn't seem to take much pleasure in the Arts, and more specifically the practice of said skills on other people.

But, it hadn't always been that way, which is why he'd come up with the 'other' training method, and of course the collar. However, the collar was not without its flaws, as Genma had come to find out. Perhaps he'd been too focused on the idea behind the method, and spent too little time regarding the side-effects of such a training method. That was all in the past though, and unfortunately, for better or worse, couldn't be undone. Not by his hand at any rate, as he'd tried to correct the one glaring oversight in the use of the collar. He supposed everything had to come with a price, and this was his.

"Tendou, I'll handle this," he'd made up his mind, despite the gut feeling that told him this wasn't his fight. It was hard, disregarding that which had kept him alive and whole for so long on the empty road. Maybe it was the look in his daughter's eyes, or the look of acknowledgement that his friend was sharing with him. Whatever the case, he steeled himself and made his way to the door. Why, he probably wouldn't even need Ranma this time around.

The horns started up again as soon as Genma stepped past the threshold and into the glare of halogen.

Kenichirou smiled, Satou's words over the bullhorn obviously had an effect on the fat man who was now standing just past the open front door. Even through the bars between them, Saotome's gaze was intense, just as it had been when Kenichirou had made the earlier house call. Damn if his ribs weren't still sore, he turned a grin, nudging Satou.

Satou chuffed, and started to bring the horn to his lips, but appeared to think better of it at the last second, "Old man, I thought we said to bring the kid. What gives?" He watched as Genma only shook his head, and folded his arms across his chest.

"The boy, it's past his bed time, you'll have to take it up with me instead."

"Bed time huh, well I guess it can't be helped then," the short blond shrugged, then called over his shoulder. "Hey, guys the kid's sleeping, I guess we'll have to come back in the morning." He smirked.

Dry chuckles and mocking laughter came from behind the row of headlights.

"Ah, it sounds like the guys disagree. We'll just have to get the kid up then, won't we?" Satou took the moment to join in on the heckling.

Genma however, wasn't as amused. Frankly he just wanted to get this over with, there was a bottle of sake with his name on it in Tendou's liquor cabinet. Unless he'd finished it off last night. He wasn't too sure either way, the days usually had a way of blurring together when he hung out with his old friend. "Like I said, you'll deal with me. But, first," the martial artist let his sentence trail off.

"First? First, what," the blond with the jacket questioned.

The portly martial artist unfolded one Gi clad arm, gesturing toward where the sign on the front wall should be.

Following the line of Genma's arm, Satou leaned back and found what the old man had to be pointing at. "Tendou Dojo, Indiscriminate School of Grappling," he read aloud. "Yeah, so? What's your point?"

Genma put a hand to his forehead in consternation, and swiveled his arm to point at the other side.

Kenichirou, who was closer, read the opposing sign, "To challenge the owner in savage combat, use other gate," he read aloud to the rest of the bikers.

Satou shrugged, "We're here to deal with you and the kid, not some Tendou."

"Hah, foolish boy. If that's the case, you're still challenging the School as well, and for challenges, they are settled in the Dojo." Genma refolded his arms as he spoke, nodding as if he spoke the purest of truths.

Satou turned to Kenichirou, "Look man, this is stupid. Let's just go in there, drag the old man and the kid out here, beat the shit out of them and be done with it. We didn't drive all the way out here for this martial arts bushido crap." As soon as he said it, he remembered which Morimiya he was talking to.

Kenichirou ignored Satou's unintended insult, but commented anyway, "It doesn't really matter either way. Saotome owes us and we'll collect, but if he wants to make this more interesting, that's fine by me."

"Ah, shit, whatever. What do you say, Hideki?"

The bandaged man was sitting astride the center motorcycle, resting across the handlebars. He raised his head, eyes hard even above the headlights. "Like little bro says, as long as the job gets done and I get to give my thanks to the kid, it's all good."

"Damn it," Satou scratched his head. "This is all kinds of messed up." He looked back over at Saotome. "Alright old man, it looks like we'll be granting your last wish. Just get the kid, and we'll make this quick."

Internally, Genma let out a breath. It all was going according to plan. The tall kid was probably just lucky last time anyway, but still, it would surely be no real problem to deal with these punks once he made sure to challenge them in a one on one basis. Aside from the lanky boy, the rest appeared to be normal street trash. He wouldn't even have to waste the more advanced arts on kids like these.

Out back by the dojo, the Tendou family waited. They had heard the entire conversation, naturally, and since Saotome had taken it upon himself to involve the Tendou Dojo, it became their interest as well. Ranma, who wasn't about to be left out of this, remained between the two sisters hovering just in front of Kasumi, intent on protecting the girl from potential harm.

As Genma came around the side of the house along the porch, Soun moved over to his friend discreetly. "Saotome, is this wise?"

"Tendou, relax. I have every faith in my plan. You'll see." Saotome continued when it looked as if Soun didn't quite believe him. "Don't worry about a thing, the Dojo will be fine, and there will be six less punks to worry about soon enough. It's not like we haven't done this before."

Which is precisely what was troubling Soun. "I know Saotome, I remember the old days. I can't forget, no matter how I try."

For a moment the two men shared a look and shuddered. Akane caught the tail end of the conversation and wondered what had her dad and Mr. Saotome all worked up.

Before she could consider asking, the family's attention was drawn to the six unwelcome guests that were coming in through the side gate. The first two she recognized as the guys who'd been loitering at the main gate. Following them were three more dressed in the same biker gang attire, consisting of long coats, baggy black pants and assorted t-shirts. Each one was a little varied on style, but overall they had the same look of delinquency.

The last guy that came through the gate, however, was quite different. For one, he was a good head and a half taller than the rest, except for the second guy, who'd also been wearing more, well, normal attire, but who wasn't quite as tall. The guy at the rear was also a lot bigger in stature, probably weighing double that of any of the others. Of course, the sheer hugeness of the guy just had to be outdone by his shirt; it was bright pink, nearly neon. It almost hurt to look directly at it, and the bandages on his face weren't adding to the overall fashion sense either. _What a freak_, was all she could think.

Ranma though, had other things on her mind. She hadn't recognized the tall man when he'd come to the house the first time, and now that he was back, she still couldn't place him. But, the pink one, she knew him well enough, even with his face hidden behind wrappings. It would be hard to forget someone that large, even if he'd been wearing clothes like the others last time they'd met. Now she knew why the bikers were here. The only thing that surprised her was that they'd managed to find the two wandering martial artists, and that they were still obviously angry with her after two years. It was another in a long line of her regrets, but it wasn't like she'd _killed_ any of them. What was there to be mad about?

_Two years ago…_

Morimiya Hideki didn't look it, but he was pumped. _This is it_, he thought, _the night when all my sweat and blood pays off_. He ran a hand through his slicked back hair, checked his reflection in the convenience store window and turned to face the rest of the gang that was gathering in the side parking lot. There were about fifteen so far, and possibly again as much still on the way.

Normally, they'd all meet near one of the old bridges, but that was a little out of the way for tonight's big run. Not that they could just park anywhere, not without the cops getting all edgy. Which was why Murakame had suggested the convenience store, his uncle owned it, and wouldn't give them any trouble as long as they didn't stay too long.

Plus, the store was at the edge of the town, pretty close to the highway. They'd planned to meet here and start the run once the sun went down. Taking route 20 from Otsuki to Hachioji and the outskirts of Tokyo, then meet up with Kagani and his crew for the rest of the way north to Maebashi for the rally, that was the plan anyway.

He'd actually had to call in a few favors to set the whole thing up, but after tonight, he'd have more than just the Otsuki boys backing him up. Kagani had already tossed in his lot, pledging his self and the thirty he headed. Hell, they'd probably pick up another forty just passing through the edge of Tokyo, that's just the way things were. Gathering two hundred by the time they got to Hachioji might not even be a dream.

Hideki was stirred from his thoughts by a hand on his shoulder. Looking down, he found the short blonde regarding him with a grin. Aside from Murakame, Satou was one of his crew that he put a lot of faith in. They'd originally been part of opposing gangs, but after a brutal fight during their middle school years, they'd started respecting one another, and stuck together eventually going to the same high school. "What's the word?"

"Mizuki says he'll be here in ten, and it sounds like the rest of the guys won't be much longer. We should be good to go in, shit, I dunno, twenty minutes." Satou smirked. He'd been looking forward to this all month, ever since Morimiya had come up with the idea.

"Good. I'm gonna go grab a drink," Hideki stepped over to the door just as it flung open, ejecting a bundle of dirty clothes. He stepped back, narrowly avoiding getting hit in the face by the door. "What the hell?" Pissed at the narrow escape, he kicked the edge of the door, slamming it against the glass window. On the ground, the clothes moved, and he realized it was a kid, dressed in a filthy Dogi. He was about to give the kid a lesson in manners when a fat man dressed similarly to the kid bolted out of the store, grabbing the kid by the lapel of his dogi and slung the limp boy over his shoulder.

"C'mon boy, I taught you better than that!" The fat man yelled as he made to run, but came up short due to the motorcycle gang that happened to be parked between him and the street. "Bah, we don't have time for this!"

The tall biker was about to interject when Murakame's uncle burst through the doorway shouting, "Stop thief!" He too pulled up short when he realized the situation. Noticing Hideki off to his side, the older man turned to the biker, "You boys do me a favor and I'll let you use the lot anytime, free of charge!"

The fat man seemed to understand that things weren't exactly stacked in his favor, and decided to try and make a break for it, "Oh Toh Sho!," he shouted, launching himself forward toward the smallest of the bikers before him.

Satou barely had time to blink before he was struck dead center in the chest with a hard palm. The air gushed out of him even as he was lifted off the ground by the weight behind the strike.

With that, the rest of the gang was hot on the portly martial artist's tail.

_Present Day…_

Everyone had moved into the Dojo with the bikers standing off to one side and the Tendous along with Ranma keeping to the opposite wall. Genma on the other hand, had taken center stage and was cinching his belt in the center of the Dojo floor.

Kenichirou listened to his brother for a moment, and then nodding assent, moved towards Genma. However, Satou obviously had other ideas, because he stepped in front of the younger Morimiya, cutting him off. Kenichirou almost said something, but held his tongue. He'd already beat the fat man once, and his ribs _were_ still a little sore, if the runt wanted to butter up the rotund man first, so much the better.

"I've got this Morimiya, besides, your brother isn't the only one that owes the old man something," Satou cracked his knuckles and pulled off his coat, tossing it in a heap behind him. "Let's do this."

Genma was mildly surprised to note that underneath the long coat the blond kid had been hiding a decent amount of muscle. The kid might have been cut short a little in the height quotient, but he'd made up for it by obviously pushing his body to its limits at a gym. However, to Genma all that bulk amounted to nothing if you didn't train yourself in the Art. This boy was all show muscle, he was sure of it.

The dismissive look Genma tossed his way wasn't lost on Satou, it only served to further instigate the biker. Soon the two were standing almost toe to toe, though Satou's head only made it part way up to the martial artists chest.

"Boy, you don't know what you're getting into here."

"Shut it fat man, you'll be drinking through a straw when I'm done!" Satou launched a right cross followed by a left straight even as he was speaking. He'd put a lot of force behind the punches and when Genma shifted slightly past each strike, Satou realized he was in danger of overextending himself, quickly he yanked his elbows back toward his chest to settle his balance. The blond let the precarious position rock him to the left and away from the opening he'd all but offered the gi clad man. As Genma's palm moved through the empty space Satou's ribs had recently occupied, Satou spun on the ball of his rear foot, swinging the heel of his other leg around in an arc that would terminate on the other side of Genma's head.

Unfortunately, that plan was derailed as Genma's meaty forearm shot up hard to intercept the hooking kick, and the force sent the smaller body stumbling. Taking advantage of the momentary imbalance, Genma slid forward, introducing the side edge of his foot into the space just under Satou's armpit.

The hard kick bowled the blond head over heels, where he rolled to a stop a few feet away. "Damn…," he wheezed out, pressing a hand against the burning pain that had blossomed in his side. Pulling himself to his feet, he stared hard at his opponent, who'd remained impassive, as if he were simply waiting for Satou to get back to the fight. Gritting his teeth, the muscular blond did just that, choosing to ignore the bruised ribs under his shirt. Muttering a curse, he launched himself at the old man, cocking his left fist back to deliver a crushing blow.

Genma waited until the last moment before the horribly obvious strike was to land, and sunk down in his stance, shooting his right arm upward to intercept the attacking arm, his left grabbed a fistful of the boy's shirt, and he shifted away from the direction of the strike, swinging his stance wide like a gate, where he then slammed the blond hard onto the bare floor just past where he'd been standing.

The wooden floor of the dojo creaked ominously with the force of the impact.

Genma rose from his position, giving the downed fighter a harsh glare of his own. "Boy, you leave nothing to the imagination; a baby could read you like a book the way you fight. Come back in ten years and try again." He folded his arms, turning to regard the remaining bikers. Perhaps the little show would convince them of the error of their ways. But, he found the tall man from the other day was staring at him almost thoughtfully, and dismissed the notion. Genma was going to have to settle this the hard way.

Furthermore, Genma's estimation of the little biker went up a notch as he noticed the blond roll over from where he'd been planted and start to gather himself back to his feet. The stance he pulled himself into was shaky at best and the boy's eyes were cloudy. But he clenched his fists and focused himself on Genma.

"Boy, it's over. You've had your turn."

Satou was about to retaliate, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Satou, don't worry, I'll finish what you started," Kenichirou nodded to the unsteady biker. "The old man has no tricks for me."

Genma frowned at the underestimation of the tall fighter. If the man wanted tricks, Genma could most certainly oblige, and when it came down to it, Ranma had worked over the tall guy just a short while ago, if anything that would be a telling factor in battle.

Seeing to it that Satou made his way back over to the others, albeit reluctantly, Kenichirou made a show of stretching this way and that, he was almost fully recovered by now, and felt a little display would be to his advantage. He also took that time to glance at the four others watching the fight from the opposite side of the dojo, three girls and an older man, probably the Tendous that ran the place. The Saotome boy was conspicuously still absent. "We'll find the boy after this is over you must know."

Genma declined to comment, this was all about some petty grudge he was sure, and he still didn't recall any of these bikers, or what he'd done to warrant their attention. Not that it really mattered, as they didn't seem the type to simply give up. Genma didn't have to like it, but he could understand that it was going to take a good beating to force them to yield.


	4. Part 4

Ranma and Co. is Copyright Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan, Inc. 1993

Ranma 1/2 is a trademark of Viz Communications, Inc.

A Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction/Danny the Dog by S³

Circle that Binds – part 4

It was nearly a repeat of their first encounter, Genma realized not ten seconds after Kenichirou launched his initial blur of kicks and sweeping arm strikes. In the previous match against the much smaller and obviously less skilled blond fighter, Saotome had been more than willing to let his opponent come to him. But this time, as with the fight out front of the Tendou home, his opponent seemed to frustratingly read his moves, which was enough in of itself to bother the heavier martial artist. He knew he wasn't telegraphing his techniques, which left the only reasonable explanation in that the lanky leg fighter had a more than passing familiarity with Genma's root in Kenpo.

So realizing, the older man allowed a small smile to cross his lips. With the next flurry of kicks, he slid into a less rigid stance even as he dodged the blows by a hairsbreadth. As expected, the follow up strikes from those equally long arms slowed a fraction, as Genma's opponent took the time to gauge the gaps in defense that the new stance offered. Genma's hand shot out to slide along the inside of the approaching arm, gently allowing the whipping strike to complete its motion but drawing it closer in the process.

Kenichirou was already setting his body for a spinning hook kick when Genma made his move, forcing him to drop into a low stance to maintain his balance, however Genma's arm had already slipped up under between his left armpit and upward past his neck, effectively halting his motion altogether. Caught almost sideways, he attempted to maneuver Genma into position for a hip toss, but the gi clad man stepped further into the back of Kenichirou's stance, virtually pressing their sides together. Not wanting to be quite so compromised, Ken tried to whip his other arm around, aiming to elbow the other man in the head.

Genma preempted the vain strike by jumping up and simultaneously scissoring his legs around his opponent's waist and switching his arm lock into a modified version of a rear choke hold. "Hell's Cradle," the portly martial artist boldly cried out, even as his sudden added weight pulled on the tall fighter, sending them both reeling backward toward the dojo wall.

Kenichirou slammed himself into the approaching wall, in a desperate attempt to dislodge the bastard on his back, to no avail, other than having the arms around his neck tighten.

"I didn't want to have to do this, boy. This technique, it was created to calm the rage in my boy's heart, to which your mild annoyance barely holds a candle!"

Kenichirou didn't care what the old man was babbling about, all he was concerned with was getting a lungful of air, and possibly escaping the crushing choke hold he was caught up in. "Get…off me…old man," he wheezed out, even as his knees started to buckle from the strain.

In the far corner, the bikers looked on with varied expressions, foremost of which was disbelief. Satou was livid, still irritated from having his fight cut short. Hideki, on the other hand, was a study of calm on the surface, but a twitch in his hand belied that. He'd believed his brother's claims of being able to easily best the old man, which so far were obviously not valid. Which put Morimiya at a further disadvantage, not only was the kid not here, but if the old man was set on taking them all out, he'd lose what little reputation he'd managed to scrounge up over the past year and a half.

There had to be a way to turn things back around. Hideki's eyes fell on the three girls in the opposite corner. Slowly he could feel his ruined smile tearing at the edges of his face. Even if this dojo was run by the family, the only practitioner had to be the mustachioed man in the brown gi, none of the girls looked strong enough to break a twig, let alone be any kind of threat. Reaching over, he nudged the blond to get his attention then gestured wordlessly toward the girls. For a moment, Satou just looked up at him, uncomprehendingly, then arched a brow when Hideki made a grabbing motion with one hand.

"You sure about that boss? The old man isn't a pushover like Ken said, and there's still the other, uh, Tendou guy." Satou looked back at the three bikers behind him. "We could rush 'em and grab one of the girls I guess. Use her as a hostage, or somethin'. Make one of 'em go get the Saotome kid." The blond shrugged. "I'm just here to fight, but if that's what we gotta do, then we'll do it."

Morimiya's eyes glinted at his subordinate's assessment, and finally he nodded, garbling a few terse syllables.

Satou set his shoulders and whispered the makeshift plan to the rest of the crew. The bikers grinned like crazy, itching to do something other than just watch the younger Morimiya getting literally manhandled.

Kenichirou on his end finally had enough of enduring the humiliating defeat, and tapped the bulky arms constricting around his throat, in an attempt to signal his giving up.

Genma, realizing his opponent had quit struggling, slowly released the hold he'd put the fighter in. Just as he was about to untangle his limbs, a cry from the girls pulled his attention away to find the biker punks charging across the dojo floor toward the Tendous, and more importantly, Ranma.

Even as he signaled the others, Satou sprang toward the old man who'd tossed him around like a little kid. The blond felt he owed him a few punches, and with Kenichirou there, dazed or not, they couldn't lose. "Ken! We're doin' this the hard way," he yelled to snap the taller boy out of his stupor even as he leapt up to deliver a haymaker with all his weight behind it right to the fat man's face.

At least, that had been his plan, right up until his knuckles were scant centimeters from that stupid white handkerchief wrapped around the old man's head. Instead, Satou found himself nearly shoulder deep in the dojo wall, with his arm sticking out the other side. "Shit, shit," Satou had about two seconds to realize just how bad of a position he'd landed in before his head was forcefully introduced to the selfsame dojo wall by a meaty arm.

"Puck! By nobze," the blonde gurgled as pain spiked through his head. With his right arm stuck like it was, he tried to push away from the wall with his free arm, a foot, anything to get away and defend himself from another attack. A crushing blow to his unprotected kidneys almost threatened to drop him for good, but his anger was near unbridled, keeping him on his feet for a little longer.

"I thought you learned to stay down boy," the rotund martial artist's grating voice sounded much closer to the biker now, almost close enough to touch.

And the blond had to try. He couldn't tell if the bastard was trying to deride him, or dissuade him, but it just made him want to fight all the more. Satou grunted, putting all his effort into wrenching his arm free of the hole, which he managed with a spray of splinters. Satou whipped his right arm around even as he broke free, using his backward momentum to spin himself around in a nasty backfisted strike. "Dabm you, obd man!"

Once more Satou met with empty air, almost but not quite stumbling over his own feet with the force of the intended blow. Infuriatingly, his target was almost two meters away, safely out of range of his crude attack. "_Where's Ken. If he would just grab the old bastard, I could beat the shit out of him_." Satou thought, gritting his teeth and grimacing at the pressure it put on his nose.

The blond didn't have to look far to find Ken slumped to the floor, just past the elder Saotome's feet. The tall fighter was out for the count, Satou had sent enough people to the land of nod to recognize the condition. "_Well, that's just fucking swell, ain't it_," the biker was tempted to call it quits, when he realized that Ken's brother was watching. Wiping the dribble of blood running down his face on the back of his left hand, he squared his shoulders and resolved to finish the fight, one way or the other. "_You better appreciate this, Morimiya_. _As long as those three do their job, it won't matter about me and Ken_," with his mind set, he cracked a crazed grin, blood staining his teeth. Satou Kobayashi screamed his challenge and the room span for him as he met Genma, one final time.

Soun and his daughters had been watching the impromptu match with alternating looks of concern and piqued interest. For the Tendou patriarch, the days of challenges and crazy training antics under the Master were long gone. For what it was worth, he missed that old blood pumping feeling, the rush of adrenaline and the thrill of victory tangled with the possibility of defeat. Even then, the Master might have tolerated a loss or two, all in the name of training, or a quick lesson in humility. But those times were seldom, especially when the Master was the one dishing out the particular lesson. Now, he'd found a bit of what he felt he'd lost in the eyes of his longtime friend and training partner, Saotome Genma.

Even for one so out of practice as Soun, the two fights had been painfully one sided. Saotome wasn't being pushed much at all, though given the rather shady looking background of his opponents, it probably didn't mean much. Then again, Soun mused, their lanky visitor from the other day was obviously still not quite up to par after his brush with the younger Saotome. Genma simply had to sweep up the pieces.

Just as the fight was coming to a close by submission, the bikers appeared to reach the decision that being beaten one after another wasn't quite as satisfying when on the receiving end. While the young blond moved to occupy Saotome, three of the young punks suddenly came barreling across the polished wood floor, right at his little girls. Soun would not have it!

Seeing the mustachioed martial artist step forward to bar the way, the bigger two of the bikers kept charging, while the third broke off to get one of the girls. If this man was as skilled as his friend, the lone biker decided he probably wouldn't have too long, unless one of the others got lucky.

Diving toward the girl he'd chosen, he made his grab. Grinning, he reached for the smallest one, the redhead, but found himself neatly cut off as the raven haired girl stepped right into his path. The way her face was all bunched up, trying to look tough was kind of cute he decided, and figured if the girl just offered herself up, it would save him a lot of time in the long run.

Akane barely registered her father's entanglement with his two opponents; she trusted that he'd keep Kasumi safe on his end of things. She'd actually put herself in between the Tendou's houseguest and the incoming street punk unconsciously, if only because she'd been itching to join in on the fun her father's friend seemed to have been having. It had nothing to do with wanting to protect the petit redhead. _"She's a martial artist too, right,"_ the youngest Tendou assured herself.

The raven haired girl didn't have time to spare the shorter girl a glance, but she just knew the forlorn almost lost look the girl had been wearing ever since the bikers showed up was still hung on her face. It had actually started to depress Akane, resulting in her paying more attention to the fighting than the dog turned girl. A pair of grasping hands stretched out toward her, prompting Akane to divert a little more thought to the boy before her.

As his hands closed to within centimeters of her shoulders, Akane's brow furrowed in what might have been contempt. This was probably the most ineffective attempt at closing in for a grapple that she'd seen, ever. The boy didn't have his weight centered, he was horribly over extended, and might as well have just leapt at her in a flying tackle for all the good it was doing him.

Wordlessly, she sidestepped to the left, bringing up her right knee into the biker's midsection just as his front half passed through her previous space, and right when her knee made contact, she reached across his back with her right arm bent to deliver a simultaneous elbow to the small of his back, effectively folding him in half. Retracting her limbs, Akane watched as her opponent slumped to the ground just past her feet, with a gurgled cry of pain. "Idiot," Akane waited to see if he might get up, against her greater expectations.

Surprising the long-haired martial artist, the biker coughed raggedly for a few seconds before pulling himself slowly to his knees. The biker's face was contorted with a look of nausea, but he held himself together while continuing to struggle to regain his feet.

"Remember what Father said, Akane."

Her older sister's words came haltingly from behind the martial artist. Akane merely half-shrugged, "Those are rules for matches Kas, these jerks aren't playing by the rules right now."

"I know, but we have our name to uphold in the community. Father is still on the neighborhood watch," Kasumi urged her sister to restraint, but there wasn't a whole lot of conviction in her voice that Akane could detect.

"Whatever Kas, look," she half-gestured to the rising biker, "I didn't use too much force. He didn't even throw up."

At the raven haired girl's words, the biker turned a lighter shade of pale. _That wasn't a hard hit? It felt like someone took a bat to my stomach!_ Junji decided then that his first impulse to grab the redhead was the correct one, and swallowed the rising bile as he regained his balance. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his target only a meter or two away, hell she didn't even appear to have moved an inch. Keeping his eyes focused on the girl who'd socked him, he coughed a bit, bringing his arms up to guard himself. All he had to do was trick the girl into defending herself for a moment, and he could break away and snag the redhead. Then there wouldn't be jack shit the girl could do once he had a hostage.

Tightening his guard, he was thankful for those few sessions he'd sat in on at the boxing club two years ago. Already he could feel the training coming back. _Jab, jab, right straight, left hook…_yeah it was the perfect combo, just like the Captain showed him. "That was a good hit, but you won't get a second freebie," he taunted as the nausea passed and he took a few steps backward to look like he was giving himself some room. Bouncing softly on the balls of his feet, he threw two quick aimless jabs in the girl's general direction before settling back into the guard position. "With the power of my Boxing, you won't be so lucky this time, little girl."

Akane just stared at her opponent. _Is he serious?_

While the youngest Tendou didn't hold her skills in the highest regard, she knew when she outclassed someone, and this was almost laughable. But, then again, when he'd come at her the first time, he'd been trying to grapple with her. Boxing was an entirely different style. Taking a better look at him, he wasn't a thin scrawny little guy, and he was almost a head taller than her, which meant his reach was longer as well. But, in turn, Boxers didn't make much use of their feet, so he might not think to use his longer legs to his advantage either. Akane shrugged internally, deciding that she'd close whatever gap there might be with her advantage in skill. Then his 'little girl' comment caught up with her. _Who does this jerk think he is, saying that just because I'm a girl I can't fight!_ Akane's mood blistered, as her easily flared temper was stoked. "What did you just say?"

Junji picked up the dangerously low tone the girl's words snapped off in instantly. _If she's that easy to piss off…_ "Hah, I bet your dad didn't even really teach you anything. You probably had to learn by watching old crappy kung fu movies. Sheesh, get in one lucky hit and you think that makes you a great fighter!" Junji was satisfied to see the girl look like she was about to literally explode as the words left his mouth. He also began to slightly regret his hasty plan when he considered the pretzel like shapes the girl was going to bend him into if he failed to make the grab. His stomach and back were both still on fire from the pain.

Junji's mouth chose to ignore the signs, "I mean, aren't girls supposed to be practicing flower arranging and cooking? You'd be better off in the kitchen, you gotta admit." He was rather proud of coming up with that one on the spot, especially when the girl looked like she'd stopped breathing for a moment. _Gotta do it now, while she'd distracted_, he thought, darting a step and a half forward, only to lurch to the side as soon as he saw her hands twitch in reaction. He had maybe a second or two to grab the redhead and get her between his self and the world of pain that was headed his way.

"Cooking…my cooking? He insulted my cooking," Akane heard someone mutter from far away as the world shrank to a pinpoint around her, with the sole occupant being the punk boxer standing not three meters distant. "Y-you," it was all she could say at that moment as something snapped. _My cooking is the best!_ The enraged girl was about to start forward when her opponent beat her to it and darted toward her.

The spell broken, Akane snapped out with a left roundhouse, fully intent on removing the bastard's flapping head from his shoulders, but her foot only whipped through empty air. Akane ground her teeth in frustration, as her eyes tracked the suddenly sideways scampering target. He hadn't moved far, so she pivoted on her posted leg, arcing her extended leg around to hook toward his retreating neck with the heel of her foot.

Junji swore he felt something flick the little hairs on the back of his neck, but didn't have any time to really consider the implications, besides he thought he knew what it was. Death. So he pushed his feet against the ground a little harder, propelling himself that last meter to the redhead. The redhead, who by some miracle, was staring off into space, just over his shoulder, not really focused on him at all.

Junji made the grab, and spun, pulling the girl around his front in a tight grip to ward off any incoming attack. For all she responded, she might as well have been a mannequin, or a life size doll. It was then that he realized just how lucky he'd been, as his vision refocused on the sole of a foot that was frozen motionless just short of impacting his hostage's nose. _Fuck me, if I hadn't spun around, her foot would've gone through my head_. Junji took a deep breath, and grinned like a cat at the raven haired girl, over the redhead's shoulder. "See, I told you a girl couldn't do jack."

Akane trembled, visibly reigning in her impotent anger as she retracted her strike. _How dare you!_ The girl clenched her guard hand into a tight fist, with a series of knuckle pops. "You're more of a jerk than I thought."

The biker just widened his smile, "Like it matters what you think. We just want the kid, and since you can't fight back while we've got this girl…we'll there's really no choice is there?"

That gave Akane room for pause. These punks weren't only honor less, they were idiots. He had Ranma, and he didn't even know it. Which brought Akane up short, and she spared a glance for the shorter girl. _Why isn't Ranma doing anything? It's not like she has a weapon pressed to her throat._

Seeing that the raven haired girl appeared to understand the situation, Junji started backing up to skirt the edge of the dojo wall that would lead him over to where the boss was waiting. Strangely enough, the girl he held in a half-nelson just kind of shuffled along with his lead. It just served to let him know he'd made the right choice in a hostage.

Halfway across the floor, he found that the other two girls were following after him, but at a good distance, and a shout from the center of the dojo got his attention as well. It looked like Ken was back up busy dealing with the Saotome guy in a whirl of spinning kicks and lashing strikes. The heavy martial artist was getting in a few telling hits of his own, but the younger fighter's longer reach was keeping him at bay.

The two newest bikers were still alternating turns at the Tendou guy in the brown gi, and weren't having much luck. They kept getting in each other's way, and twice almost tripped one another. The mustachioed fighter just seemed to be biding his time, parrying their sloppy punches and tagging them with hard blows whenever they presented an opening. They were too preoccupied to notice that Junji had already got the girl.

Junji frowned, when his eyes fell on Satou. The blond fighter was sprawled out on the floor, with one arm twisted at an odd angle. He wasn't moving and looked down for the count. "Damn, it wasn't supposed to get this crazy," he mumbled to himself as he continued to drag his all too willing hostage.

Soun set his jaw and lanced out with a spinning back kick that connected, launching his opponent across the floor. The fight was dragging on a little too long for his liking, and he intended to put a stop to it now. He also promised himself to start training again. Fighting the two much younger men was far more tiring than it should have been had he stayed in shape. Soun's hair whipped from side to side as he deftly dodged a sloppy set of hook punches. After the third volley, he had the boy's timing down and shot in for a counter.

Sliding forward past the right cross, Soun moved almost right up to the boy's chest, and with his left arm, reached over and wrapped under the extended strike, locking the boy's arm in place with a knife-edged block. With his right hand, Soun dropped a heavy ridge-handed strike to the left side of his opponent's neck, completely stunning and trapping the boy. Pivoting on his right foot, Soun swung the boy around in the hold until it broke his balance and then slammed the biker's back hard to the dojo floor, arm still locked in place. "I'm sorry lad, but you've earned a nap," Soun's free right hand rocketed down, plowing into the boy's solar plexus, blowing any fight right out of him.

Soun released his hold, and rose from the crouch he'd dropped into. He had to check on his girls!

A few moments later, the fight between Genma and Ken died down as hoarse dry laughter cut through the air. The two fighters dropped back from each other, both winded and nursing aching injuries. Genma fixed the younger man with a glare, but didn't hold it for long as he immediately realized the source of the sour mirth. The Biker whom he'd vaguely recognized was holding an unresisting Ranma by the back of her shirt.

"We just want the boy," Hideki rasped as loud as his ruined throat would allow. "Bring him out here, and we'll be done quick."

Junji took over when his boss's voice seemed to fail. "There's no need for a big mess, the boss doesn't want ta have to hurt the girl, but well, we can't wait all night." Behind him, Hideki nodded, seeming to almost shrug as if they couldn't help it.

Kasumi tightened her grip on Akane's sleeve, at the pronouncement. She was worried for her friend, but confused as to why Ranma wasn't putting up any kind of struggle, looking more like a puppy being carried by the scruff of its neck, than a girl in danger. Kasumi didn't remember much of her own training under the Tendou School, but she recalled the escape training that had been drilled into her by her admittedly overprotective father. Even if it didn't seem very…honorable, to strike a boy, there, her father had ensured her that it was one of the few assuredly effective escape techniques.

Akane had since calmed down, once she realized there was little she could do that wouldn't endanger Ranma. But it still irked her that the boxing punk had outmaneuvered her, and even grabbed the girl in the first place. If Akane ever got hold of the biker, there would be a reckoning.

Genma's mind was already furiously racing. It would be impossible to submit to the biker's demands, and he didn't want to reveal the boy's curse, since it would just be giving them what they wanted. There was really only one way he could think of to get them out of this mess. The boy would have to do it himself. Damn the consequences. "Tendo, get your girls back."

As soon as he heard the tone in Genma's voice, Soun feared what his friend was going to do. His girls hadn't had to watch last time, and he felt bad enough about his own involvement, necessary as it had been. "Akane, Kasumi, get away from those men," Soun's voice was low, but it carried nonetheless.

Akane for her part heard the steel that seldom inflected her father's words, and it struck a chord. Reluctantly, she put her arm around her sister and withdrew from her position, leading them both back to their father's side. She didn't have to like it, but even she knew that her father could only be pushed so far. It was times like these that got her thinking about her mother, and her lost sister.

The head of the Saotome clan brushed off his wrinkled gi, drawing himself to his full height. Addressing the biker punks directly, he spoke clearly and briefly, "I can't give you the boy just like that. Besides, he isn't here right now. If you want to speak to him, you'll have to go to him yourself. There's an address, on the inside of his sister's collar. Take it and go," at the last he let defeat fill his chest, and seemed to slump in on himself.

Hideki folded his arms over his chest, finally they were getting somewhere. The Saotome boy had to be close by, and there wasn't anywhere in the city that they couldn't get to in minutes on their bikes. He nudged Junji, watching the Tendou girls rejoin their father, and noted that Ken was walking back over with the blond draped over his shoulder. The last of his gang were picking themselves up from the floor with groans and whimpers of pain. He was going to have to do something about the quality of who he recruited in the future once he regained his cred.

Junji picked at the collar he found on the girl's neck, it was a huge black affair with a giant metal clasp to one side. Prying back one edge, he could just make out a bit of kanji that looked like it was burned into the inside of the leather. "Yeah, the old guy's right, there's an address or somethin' written on the collar. I can't read it like this though."

Hideki fought the urge to throttle the spiky haired biker, the guy was quick on his feet, but sometimes Hideki swore he was missing a few vital connections in his brain. Grunting past the bandages he spoke, "Just take the damn thing off and give it to me."

"Oh," Junji dropped his head. "Yeah, sure thing." His fingers fiddled with the clasp. For some reason he could feel the girl beneath him start to tense up as he worked the catch on the collar. "Damn this thing is tricky," the latch popped open and the collar loosened. "Got it boss," Junji triumphantly pulled the collar free; flipping it over to Hideki's waiting hands.

Immediately, the spiky haired biker noticed something was wrong, the girl who was just in his hands, was missing. "What th—where'd she go?" His answer came one point two seconds later.

It was a moment that stretched, but remained ephemeral, that feeling of transitory weightlessness as the collar slipped from her neck. It was a thing she both hated and yearned, that single instant of clarity before her father's training once more shunted her aside, and there was only darkness and rage to wipe away the fear.

It wasn't up to her to breath, to think, to move. Not any more, she could only do but watch; watch as her own two hands and feet were wholly destruction. She couldn't save anyone. Not her friends, not her father, no one. How could she, if she couldn't even save herself from what she'd become.

There might have been tears, once. Now, there was only blood.

Junji barely had time to register a faint pressure as two tiny hands planted on his shoulders from above. He glanced up to find the girl he'd been holding not a second or two prior performing a handstand with him as an anchor point. He watched as she rotated in mid-air, spinning on her own axis until she was facing the same direction as him. In the same space as his next breath, the girl bent nearly double, executing an upside down back flip. The last thing he saw was the bottom of a pair of feet.

Hideki looked from the collar in his hands, to the redhead who'd just finished stomping Junji into the ground in the space of time it'd taken him to catch the heavy piece of leather and metal. She was tiny, but_…holy shit_. He shifted back a step, putting up a guard. His jaw might be wrecked, but there was nothing wrong with the rest of him. He'd been training himself for a comeback, and if he had to put down a little gymnastics freak to do it, so be it.

To the pink shirted biker's dismay, it didn't look like the girl was going to be giving him much of a chance to get ready, as the moment he moved to fight; she whipped sideways into a handspring aimed at scissoring her legs for his neck. Bending to the side, Hideki barely managed to avoid having his neck caught in a vise grip, and he swung instinctually at the blurry form that rocketed through the space his head had just been in. It was a sure hit.

But, something went wrong, the girl latched onto the incoming strike, whipping her body up and around, to land lightly behind the biker. The sudden torque on his body brought Hideki stumbling backward until a sharp elbow dug into his back, and the arm the redhead had caught was stretched taut across his body and bent up around his neck. The redhead tightened her hold, strangling the much larger Hideki with his own arm.

Bend almost backward as he was, Hideki didn't have any real leverage, and with the girl's elbow jammed into his back and holding half of his weight, the best he could do was flop around like a gutted fish as his air supply dwindled to nothing, and inky blackness crept into the edges of his vision.

Ken almost dropped Satou in shock as he watched his brother crumple to the ground unconscious. It had only been a handful of seconds between the girl's first attack and already the closest two bikers were down. While this wasn't his gang, Hideki was family, and the whole reason he'd dragged himself down to Tokyo in the first place. Damn it, he wasn't like his brother, driving all over Kanto on a bike, free. He had obligations to the clan, more so ever since Hideki left in the first place. But, his brother had called in a favor, and here he was.

First he'd thought the elder Saotome was a joke, but if the man was anything it was resilient, and his boy, well that kid was a freakin' nightmare. It was supposed to have been just the two of them, but now the little sister shows up, and she'd just as much of a devil as her brother. It was starting to piss off Kenichirou just a tad. He set down his burden as lightly as he could, intending to deal with this newest problem. Sure the girl was fast, and from the look of it, elastic, with the way she whipped her body around. But, she was small, and Ken was no slouch in the speed department.

Warily he watched the girl as she kip-upped to her feet after rolling out from under his toppled brother. "They wanted your brother, but I think you and I can settle this ourselves," Ken rolled his neck and settled into a loose stance, he couldn't afford to hold back this time, and he knew it.

The girl didn't move, she just stared him down through the long tattered bangs draped across her face. Lowering her head, she seemed to compress in on herself just a little.

Ken cocked his head, trying to figure out what she was doing. _It's like she's coiling up, or_, he didn't get to complete his thought as his opponent rocketed forward in a blur, going from near motionless to almost in his face. His initial stumble saved him from a flurry of strikes, and he barely got an arm up in time to halt a foot from slicing up into his jaw. The girl had gone into a vertical split to kick at his face, and already she was spinning away as soon as his palm slapped into her shin to bleed the strike. Jumping over the leg sweep she'd dropped into, he tried to catch her with an axe kick followed by a whipping crescent kick when she rolled away to her feet, but she took the crescent with her elbow and rode it in to get at his back, stinging his side with a blur of punches aimed at either cracking his floating ribs, or puncturing a kidney, either way the hits burned and he dropped an elbow on the nerve in the forearm for the trouble.

Sliding away with a shuffle step from the exchange, he desperately wanted to nurse his bruised side. Both the father and the daughter appeared to favor that attack, and he would be surprised to find that one of the repeated hits hadn't cracked something. Suppressing a grimace, he slapped away another two strikes, aimed at his groin this time, and launched into a whirl of roundhouses and spinning hook kicks, hoping to catch the little dervish in the temple and end the fight.

Genma watched, frowning slightly as his son and the lanky leg fighter traded blows back and forth, neither seeming to come out on top. If only the boy hadn't been in his cursed form, the elder Saotome mused. The boy truly worked miracles when he was in a mind of no mind state, and the curse seemed to interfere with that. He didn't know why, and the boy had always seemed to shun his cursed form before, so Genma was never able to find out for sure. But, here with the Tendous, he had to admit something had changed the status quo, and it bothered him. While he loved his boy as only a father with the bond of a life on the road could, and would do anything for his son, he still needed an heir to uphold the honor of the Saotome Ryu. If the boy couldn't crush all comers, even in his cursed form, then he would have to be retrained.

Maybe it was a spot of sweat on the polished floor, or maybe he was just tired, but Ken stumbled and lost his balance for a moment in the middle of a wheel kick, and that was all it took. The girl ducked under his kick and slammed into him, driving her shoulder up into his gut even as he lost his balance, sending both of them tumbling to the ground. It was actually something like a horrible flashback, when the tumbling stopped and he found himself being straddled by the girl, who was sitting on his chest looking none the worse for wear, her left fist pulling back to deliver a crushing blow to his unprotected throat.

The blow never fell, and Ken opened his sweat blurred eyes, to find the weight of the girl had been replaced with the weight of a white gi clad leg. The elder Saotome was pinning him to the ground with one massive calloused foot.

"It's over boy. You lost, all of you. I expect you to be gone from this place even if you have to drag all of them out of here on your own."

Ken just stared at the man, trying to figure out why he wasn't breathing through a new hole in his neck.

"Well boy?"

Clearing his head, Kenichirou nodded, "Yeah, we'll be gone." He breathed in a little easier as the weight was removed.

"Swear it," this time it was the other man, the dojo owner.

Ken sat up, noticing that the redhead was standing by the other two girls, the black collar all the more visible now, peeking through the locks of her wild hair. He turned back to the two waiting men, "We swear. It was a promise after all." With that he got to his feet and went to wake up his brother. The others looked pretty bad off and he'd need the bigger man's help to get them all back to the bikes. He was glad that they'd brought rides, otherwise it would've been a very long walk back.

Genma and Soun watched from the gate as the bikers eventually left.

"Saotome, think they'll be back?"

"It's possible Tendou, but not anytime soon." Genma folded his arms as he nodded to himself.

"So, tell me, why did those punks follow you to my house, old friend?"

Genma scratched his head. "You know how it is."

Soun did indeed. But that didn't explain why he had hooligans out to hurt his girls. "Maybe we need to talk about it a little more, in the morning," he added.

"Over a game?"

The Tendou patriarch gave it some thought, "Yes, over a game."

Congratulating each other over yet another job well done, they made sure the front gate was closed, and went inside the house.

Back in the dojo, Akane helped her sister clean up the floor. Thankfully, there was little blood to deal with, but there was plenty of sweat to mop up, and Akane was glad that her sister had seen to that right away of her own accord.

The entire time they were cleaning, she kept an eye on Ranma, who had been shuffling around aimlessly at first, until Kasumi had provided the girl with a polishing cloth, at which point she moved to the corner where she'd been fighting the bikers, and started mechanically scrubbing at the floorboards, keeping herself busy.

"So, sis," Akane decided to broach the subject. "Do you know what that was all about?"

Kasumi continued to mop the floor, almost absently, "The bikers, Akane? Or my friend apparently trying to kill that man for the second time." Kasumi had pieced together what had probably happened a few days ago, based on Ranma's jumbled explanation, and his, er, her actions tonight.

"Uh," Akane stopped polishing. "All of it, I guess. It's like she was dead, and someone flipped the switch. I admit, I kind of lost it when that guy was insulting me, but I wasn't trying to kill him for it."

The older girl just stared at her sister. "So, you were going to put his head back on after you took it off, right?"

The younger Tendou had the decency to redden in shame. "He was a boxer, he probably has a stone head by now."

As the sisters continued to banter, and discuss the night's events, Ranma sat in the corner, polishing the wood, deep in thought. It had almost happened again tonight. Luckily her father had been there to stop her this time. But, what if something happened and he wasn't around? It was the worst kind of feeling, knowing you had great power, but no control…

End Chapter 4

A/N: Edited and compiled chapter 4. Future installments will not be piecemeal as they have in the past. I'll be posting chapters when they are completely finished. Chapter 5 is roughly halfway done now, and will up in short order.


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